Alvin Community College Continuing Education Workforce Development partners with regional hospitals throughout the state to provide a Blueprint for Success for RNs and LVNs ready to return to practice after an absence from clinical nursing.
The ACC Refresher Course updates RNs and LVNs with content that fully complies with the Texas Board of Nursing (BON) requirements for nurses re-entering the workforce. The majority of nurses completing the course quickly adapt to the changes that have developed within the health care arena and return to general nursing service employment soon thereafter.
While a large percentage of the nurses taking the course kept their licenses active, they recognize their real need for a general refresher prior to returning to practice. In addition, some nurses are required by the BON to take a refresher course if they need a Texas license or if they have experienced complications related to their licenses that require a course of this nature.
If you are re-entering the nursing field, you will be required to have basic computing skills including emailing and Internet browsing to enroll in this course.
According to the Texas BON Rules and Regulations, "A nurse who has not practiced nursing for four or more years may be issued a temporary permit for the limited purpose of completing a refresher course, extensive orientation to the practice of professional or vocational nursing, whichever is applicable, or academic course. The permit is valid for six months and is nonrenewable." (Statute 217.3b) also:
"(b) A nurse who is not practicing nursing and who fails to maintain a current license from any licensing authority for four or more years will be required to: (1) complete a refresher course or extensive orientation to the practice of nursing, or completion of a nursing program of study. The applicant will submit an application for temporary permit for the limited purpose of completing a refresher course, extensive orientation to the practice of nursing, or program of study." (Statute 217.6)
These projected nursing shortage indicators may be of interest to the prospective Nurse Refresher student:
- "In the July/August 2009 edition of Health Affairs, Dr. Peter Buerhaus and coauthors found that despite the current easing of the nursing shortage due to the recession, the U.S. nursing shortage is projected to grow to 260,000 registered nurses by 2025. A shortage of this magnitude would be twice as large as any nursing shortage experienced in this country since the mid-1960s. In the article entitled "The Recent Surge in Nurse Employment: Causes and Implications," the researchers point to a rapidly aging workforce as a primary contributor to the projected shortage.
- On July 2, 2009, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the health care sector is continuing to grow, despite significant job losses in nearly all other major industries. Hospitals, long-term care facilities and other ambulatory care settings added 21,000 new jobs in June 2009, a month when 467,000 jobs were eliminated across the country.
As the largest segment of the health care workforce, RNs likely will be recruited to fill many of these new positions. In September 2009, the BLS confirmed that 544,000 jobs have been added in the health care sector since the recession began. Click here to read the full report.
Course Description
The ACC Nurse Refresher Program incorporates current nursing practices to help inactive RNs, LVNs or other nurses who have been out of practice for four years or more. The course includes an online theory class, on-campus skills lab and a clinical component that will prepare you to return to practice.
The course meets all requirements established by the Board of Nursing for the State of Texas for returning nurses and consists of:
- Six-weeks of on-line theory/didactic classes
- An on-campus skills lab held at the ACC Main Campus
- Eighty hours of bedside patient care in an area hospital or clinical sites under direct RN/LVN supervision.
Note: Clinical placements and course completion occurs on first registration/first serve basis. Do not request your "Temporary Permit" from the Board of Nursing before the start of the online course.
"The preceptorship in the ACC Nurse Refresher class really helped me know how to answer questions in my interview and to get my job. I've been re-hired part-time at a major Medical Center hospital in Houston and my salary is very good."
-Former Nurse Refresher Student
Admission Requirements
Before beginning the program, you will be required to:
- Submit to and pay for a criminal background check
- Have a current Hepatitis series as well as all other vaccinations
- Be an RN/LVN in good standing with the Texas BON
- If you are an out-of-state nurse, you must have BON approval to take the course but do not get your Temporary Permit until the course starts
- If you are not in good standing with BON, you must be fulfilling stipulation requirements from BON for a Nurse Refresher class.
Upcoming Classes:
ALVIN CAMPUS
Course No. Date(s) Time Day Room Instructor
CERNSG 1006 01 03/19/2012 - 05/25/2012 TBA TBA Online J Bennett
Fee(s): Tuition IN $1,100.00 Tuition OD $1,120.00 Other Fees $97.00
To learn more about this ACC program, email Jill Bennett, MSN, RN
at jbennett@alvincollege.edu
