No matter where nursing students come to Redlands Community College from, they find a home.
Maybe it’s the friendly El Reno campus setting or maybe it’s the streamlined program offerings.
Redlands Nursing Director Jalelah Abdul-Raheem, Ph.D., RN, likes to think it’s the people.
“The thing I really think that makes Redlands stick out, particularly the nursing program, is it’s such a community feel in the college as a whole,” she said. “Everyone is willing to help each other. They’re really friendly, even across disciplines.
“We get a mix of traditional and non-traditional students. We get a good amount of first-generation students, second-career students and those who definitely have to work so they can provide for their families.”
Redlands Nursing Program graduated its first class in 1981. The program is a two-year nursing program with new classes beginning in the fall of every year.
Students graduate with an Associate in Applied Science Degree and, upon graduation, are eligible to take the NCLEX exam to become a Registered Nurse.
Redlands also offers options for LPNs attending the nursing program. Students who are admitted for the LPN-RN course track are given credit for the first semester course, Nursing I.
“In the nursing department our faculty-student ratio is so small that we actually get to know our students and their situations and backgrounds,” Abdul-Raheem said. “We help work with them where they can be successful despite some of the things typically that may seen as a barrier such as a first-generation college student and not really knowing how to study or being that single mom that’s trying to juggle work around school.”
Redlands is very intimate setting.
Redlands admits students one time each year to the traditional day program. LPN to RN admission occurs for a handful of individuals in the spring.
The program threads theory and simulation together to help build understanding of the specific content being taught.
Simulations enhance student understanding, build confidence prior to clinical rotations as to what to do, say, and provide appropriate interventions for patients.
“To be honest all of the students end up getting a job,” Abdul-Raheem said. “The things we hear from employers are that Redlands graduates do display a lot of compassionate caring and drive to learn as much as they can to be successful in the field. They’re willing to do whatever is necessary to make sure their patient is taken care of.
“I’ve had a couple agencies reach out to me – and we just started clinicals – about how much they enjoy Redlands students and graduates because they come in with that knowledge base and that drive to really change nursing for the better.”
A new simulation program has helped expand the student’s experiences in a community setting.
Redlands perennially has a high job employment placement rate.
“I feel like the faculty works great together,” she said. “It’s a culture of teamwork and showing others – faculty and students – that we care. They’re willing to go that extra mile and it really translates to our students. Our students learn how to be professional by being accountable, responsible and understanding expectations.”
Visit Redlands online for more information at www.redlandscc.edu
