Bad results-Houston Community College Banned from enrolling new Nursing Students

Houston Community College is currently under  a conditional status after many of the nursing graduate from the college performed below average and failed the the National Council Licensure Examination over the past three years.

The Texas Board of Nursing, which oversees nursing programs in Texas is championing this downgrade of the nursing programme in the institution, though this is not the first time the community college nursing programme is having a problem. Read more of the news after the jump.  However, the Chancellor of the school insists the programme is at the level it should be but need some little upgrade.

Years of low test scores among Houston Community College nursing graduates have prompted regulators to forbid the enrollment of new students until results improve.

The Texas Board of Nursing, which oversees nursing programs in Texas, moved HCC's associate degree-granting program to a "conditional" status late last week after fewer than 80 percent of the system's nursing students passed the National Council Licensure Examination over the past three years. Performance on the national licensing exam is a key indication of program quality.

The downgrade is the latest setback for the largest program offered at Coleman College, HCC's health care school in the Texas Medical Center, which has experienced some turmoil in recent years. The past president of the school, Betty Young, was fired in 2014 after faculty begged system leaders to oust her, pointing in part to lackluster scores on nursing licensing tests.

HCC leaders said the downgrade is a temporary problem, and the program is improving under new leadership. They said they were optimistic the program could regain full approval as soon as this year.

In 2013, 2014 and 2015, HCC students had nursing exam pass rates of 66 percent, 71 percent and 78 percent, respectively. However, at the most recent administration of the test - one of several throughout the year - more than 89 percent of HCC graduates passed.

"The program is in a much more positive light than it was, and moving in the right direction," Phil Nicotera, the new Coleman College president, said.

HCC is spending $98 million in bond money to double the size of Coleman College, where the nursing program is a core offering.

HCC officials said the system's nursing program, one of several in the Houston area, is a crucial pipeline sending nurses to the community.

However, a national and statewide nursing shortage in recent years has led to the creation of many new nursing programs at private and other schools, meaning community colleges like HCC aren't carrying as much of the responsibility as they once did, said Cindy Zolnierek, the executive director of the Texas Nurses Association. The shortage isn't as bad as it once was, she said.

"There's been a huge increase in the numbers of nursing programs," she said. Even so, she added, "community colleges obviously are very much a resource for the local community."

HCC's associate degree program isn't the only one struggling. HCC's vocational nursing program, a shorter program that doesn't grant a full associate's degree, also may be in trouble after its passing rates fell from 92 percent in 2013 to 68 percent in 2014.

HCC won't be able to admit new students into the associate degree program until the passing rate hits 80 percent. No such restrictions have been placed on the vocational program.

The problems for the associate degree program began in 2013, when the passing rate dropped from 86 percent to 66 percent, leading the nursing board to slap HCC with a warning.

While that followed a national trend after a rewrite of the exam, HCC's drop was larger than most, and the school has yet to fully make it up, leading the boardto drop the college's status last week.

The previous administration at Coleman College had made changes - including shortening the program from 16 weeks to eight and lowering admissions standards - that the new leaders have reversed, Nicotera said.

"It's already been turned around," HCC Chancellor Cesar Maldonado said.

The nursing board also sent staff to Houston to visit the college. A report by the board notes that passing rates have improved and the nursing program has the full support of the administration. However, students reported that labs needed more equipment and that they wanted more chances to practice in the labs to improve their skills.

The board report calls for the HCC administration to provide adequate faculty resources and equipment, suggesting that the college create a new position for a nurse to schedule and coordinate all clinical learning opportunities and to make sure the labs are fully equipped. The HCC administration must provide an improvement plan by April 1.

A separate report on HCC's vocational nursing program found that faculty salaries are so low they've become a barrier to recruiting the best teachers.

HCC Board Chair Adriana Tamez said the nursing program was one of her main concerns when she joined the board in 2013. While she said some issues still need to be resolved, as the reports point out, the college is fixing them - or already has, she said.

"I think we have a very solid nursing program," Tamez said. "Are there still some areas that need improvement as the report says? Yes. But I can tell you we're on it; the chancellor is on it."