Transferring the credits
St. Luke’s agreement gives Iowa Central nursing students more options
- -Messenger photo by Chad Thompson Miranda Engeldinger, 20, left, and Micayla White, 21, brush up on medical terminology inside the Applied Science and Technology building on Iowa Central Community College’s main campus recently. Engeldinger, a Manson native, and White, a native of Algona, are set to graduate from Iowa Central’s nursing program in May.
-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson Miranda Engeldinger, 20, left, and Micayla White, 21, brush up on medical terminology inside the Applied Science and Technology building on Iowa Central Community College’s main campus recently. Engeldinger, a Manson native, and White, a native of Algona, are set to graduate from Iowa Central’s nursing program in May.
Students enrolled in Iowa Central Community College’s nursing program will now have an easier path to obtaining a bachelor of science-nursing degree thanks to a recently signed articulation agreement with St. Luke’s College in Sioux City.
Administration from Iowa Central and St. Luke’s College signed an RN-BSN articulation agreement March 27.
The agreement means St. Luke’s will accept Iowa Central course credits, according to Trina Staton, R.N., dean of health science at Iowa Central.
“If students think they are going to go on to St. Luke’s, they can take statistics, for example, and that will transfer over,” Staton said. “They will accept that.”
Iowa Central has articulation agreements for its nursing program with the following schools: Chamberlain College of Nursing, Briar Cliff University, William Penn University, University of Iowa, South Dakota State University and, most recently, St. Luke’s College — UnityPoint Health.
“Part of the reason we wanted to get that going is they are actually a UnityPoint system hospital in college,” Staton said. “Nurses at UnityPoint are offered some sort of incentive for them to go back, either tuition reimbursement or tuition assistance.”
She said having another college included in the articulation agreements is for the benefit of the student.
“It gives students another option to look at others colleges and what fits their needs and the amount of tuition on top of it,” Staton said. “It gives them a variety to see all the colleges we have articulation agreements to determine where they would like to go and then we can assist them in getting the correct classes to go on to that school.”
Staton said some classes will still need to be taken through St. Luke’s, but the courses can be completed online.
“Statistics, public speaking, principles of management — those are things they require for the St. Luke’s program, but they can still take those courses here and transfer them so it’s cheaper for the students here.”
Nursing has been one of Iowa Central’s most successful programs, according to Staton.
Staton reported a 90 percent pass rate for Iowa Central’s 2016 registered nursing class. It had a 100 percent pass rate for its licensed practical nursing program.
“We are very pleased with that,” Staton said. “There are only three other colleges of the 15 community colleges in Iowa that are above us.”
Including the Storm Lake and Webster City centers, Iowa Central has 203 students enrolled in its nursing program for the spring semester.
