GateWay Community College is known in the Valley as a leader in nursing and healthcare training. Throughout the last 40-years, the programs have been making adjustments to accommodate the needs and changes in the healthcare environment. The latest of those adjustments includes expanded offerings and pathways for students.
This fall, GateWay’s nursing program began offering Nurse Assisting classes at the Maricopa Skill Center (MSC), a division of GateWay, located on Buckeye Road in Phoenix. In addition, come spring, a new pathway into the Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) program is being rolled out in conjunction with MSC.
The new pathway allows students to obtain Patient Care Technician skills and Nurse Assisting credentials, with an opportunity to be admitted directly into GateWay’s LPN program for Fall 2014. Students in Maricopa Skill Center’s NA/PCT program will expand their skill set, prepare to be successful in the LPN program and be able to enter the LPN program directly - which will save time for the students.
“We are very excited about the new MSC / GateWay nursing pathway,” says Margi Schultz, Nursing division chair. “The new NA/PCT pathway will allow us to increase the number of seats available for students, provide a faster track for them and undoubtedly will increase the number of students into the RN program as well.”
Students can be admitted immediately starting in Spring 2014 to the Patient Care Technician/Nursing Assisting program at MSC. Students who successfully complete this program will be guaranteed a spot in GateWay’s LPN program for Fall 2014.
“If students are interested in this program, they need to act now because the application process requires a background check and finger printing, which takes up to eight weeks to process,” says Schultz.
The Health Unit Coordinator program also received a new pathway. While hospitals still use some traditional HUCs, they are relying more on a position which combines the patient care responsibilities of a nurse assistant with the clerical and support duties of a HUC (unit secretary), according to Monica Wadsworth-Seibel, program director.
Given changes in duties assigned to nursing staff, the GateWay Patient Care Associate track provides for a HUC certificate combined with the credentials needed to be a nursing assistant. An additional "Interpretation of Cardiac Arrhythmias" course may also position the graduate to work as a monitor technician in many hospitals.
"The new pathway is open to students seeking to pursue a career in nursing, and other healthcare professions as well as those who are currently in the nursing field," says Wadsworth-Seibel. "This new program will better prepare our students to face the current changes in the healthcare field."
Those interested in learning more about the Nursing programs can contact Andrea Romo (romo@gatewaycc.edu) or Debbie Cowan (cowan@gatewaycc.edu) for more information and the application.
For more information on the new Health Unit Coordinator/Patient Care Associate (NA/HUC), please contact Monica Wadsworth-Seibel at wadsworth@gatewaycc.edu, Charo Bautista at bautista@gatewaycc.edu. or Carolyn Delgado at delgado@gatewaycc.edu.