News ACC Students Are First Clinical Education Center Graduates

AUSTIN, Texas - (May 13, 2009) - Thirty-one nursing students from Austin Community College are the first graduates to complete their education at the Clinical Education Center at Brackenridge (CEC), a member of the Seton Family of Hospitals.

"We are so excited to have this first group of ACC nursing students graduating tomorrow," said Yvonne VanDyke, RN, MSN, Vice President of Nursing Education for the Seton Family of Hospitals and Administrator of the Clinical Education Center. "When we created the CEC, we envisioned an innovative approach to increase the flow of a clinical staff pipeline. These graduates are proof it's working."

The CEC is the result of a powerhouse academic collaboration involving the Seton Family of Hospitals and area education leaders. This collaboration has brought together the best in clinical education and training to address the shortage of nurses, physicians and other skilled clinical personnel in Central Texas. Although Texas nursing programs have increased enrollment, an additional 25,000 new graduates are needed by 2020 to meet healthcare needs in Texas. Over 8,000 students were denied admission to Texas nursing programs in 2008 due to insufficient faculty and/or clinical space.

Austin Community College continues to offer nursing courses at the CEC site. Currently over 200 qualified applicants have requested admission to the ACC nursing program, which enrolls approximately 260 new students each year through a variety of training options including the CEC-based classes.

The CEC offers breakthrough technologies such as high fidelity interactive mannequins, fully-functioning patient care skill labs, and simulation rooms with digital recording capabilities.

Students and graduate trainees in medicine and nursing, and students in public health, bioengineering, informatics, social work, pharmacy, law, psychology and public policy all train at the CEC.

Since the CEC opened in 2007:

• Approximately 160 nursing students from Austin Community College and 75 from Texas Tech University and The University of Texas at Austin have been educated at the CEC
• More than 300 graduate nurses have been trained through Seton's RN Residency Program, an 18-week training program that helps new graduates make a rapid transition from the classroom to the clinical setting
• During the last eight months, more than 123 training simulations have been held with 2,334 student participants
• A new collaboration has formed with Concordia University which will offer Professional Nursing Courses at the CEC staring in 2010

For more information on the CEC and nursing opportunities at Seton, please visit www.seton.net/nursing . Seton's 2008 Nursing Annual Report is available online at www.seton.net/nursingreport.