The groundbreaking baccalaureate degree program in nursing at Front Range Community College recently received accreditation from the Collegiate Nursing Education (or CCNE).
The new program builds on a two-year nursing degree, allowing students to continue at FRCC to complete their Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). The RN-to-BSN program began in late 2019 and offers one of the FRCC’s first bachelor’s degrees. These also are the first four-year degrees in nursing from any school in the Colorado Community College System, said school officials.
“This accreditation demonstrates FRCC’s commitment to academic excellence, to our students and to the communities we serve,” FRCC President Andy Dorsey said in a news release. “Our graduates leave our program well prepared to provide exemplary care to patients all over Colorado and beyond.”
“This accreditation distinguishes our program for meeting nationally-recognized standards and promoting excellence in areas such as teaching, course content, program quality, student achievement and faculty qualifications,” said Jean Runyon, vice president of FRCC’s Larimer campus in the news release.
The commission is officially recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a national accreditation agency that is “a reliable authority to determine the quality of nursing education programs at the baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral levels,” according to the news release.
FRCC’s RN-to-BSN completion option allows registered nurses who have completed an associate degree or students enrolled in a nursing program to finish their Bachelor of Science degree right at FRCC.
Many officials and other health care providers now require their nurses to have a bachelor’s degree. Colorado is currently experiencing an annual shortage of at least 500 nurses with four-year BSN degrees. This figure is expected to grow to a cumulative shortage of 4,500 nurses with BSNs by 2024, according to the news release.
