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QCC’s Nursing Program Recommended for Reaccreditation

Contact: Karen Hutner
Office of Institutional Communications
khutner [at] qcc.mass.edu
 

Release Date: 
11/23/2021

WORCESTER, MA— November 22, 2021 —   Quinsigamond Community College’s Nurse Education Program has been recommended for reaccreditation by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN), Inc.

“Reaccreditation is important to our nursing program and to the Central Massachusetts area, particularly since the closing of Becker College’s nursing program. To date, we have integrated 54 former Becker students into QCC’s nursing program and anticipate 24 will graduate in December and another 15 in May 2022,” said QCC President Luis G. Pedraja, Ph.D. “As the country and our local region continue to experience a nursing shortage, QCC’s nursing program is delivering vitally needed healthcare professionals to the workforce pipeline.”

QCC’s Nurse Education program has been accredited by the ACEN since 1983. The program recently went through a comprehensive reaccreditation process by a team from the ACEN, which resulted in a recommendation for the program to receive an eight-year accreditation. Accreditation is a voluntary process that confirms that a high standard of excellence exists in a program.

“It is always in a student’s best interest to seek and enroll in a program that is accredited.  It signifies to potential employers that they have been prepared within a program that has established a higher standard of expectations,” said Patricia Creelman, professor of Nurse Education at QCC. “Additionally, it is important for a graduate to complete an accredited program to facilitate application and acceptance at higher levels of nursing education.”

A reaccreditation is a comprehensive process, in which the nursing program does a self-evaluation to determine compliance with six standards, identified by NCEN. These standards relate to all aspects of Mission and Governance, Faculty, Student, Program Resources, Curriculum and Program Outcome assessment. During a three-day visit to the College, a ACEN team reviewed QCC’s program standards, locations, visited with QCC nursing partners and advisory boards, and conducted interviews with students, faculty and administration.

According to Professor Creelman, while many programs are recommended to receive a full eight-year accreditation after a NCEN team site visit, what was unusual about QCC’s recommendation is that there were no areas for improvement identified.

“It is often the practice that, while a program may meet the particular standard, they may also be recommended to improve in particular areas identified by the evaluators.  There were none of these recommendations identified,” she said. “The team was most impressed by the comprehensiveness of our preparation, the enthusiastic student body, and the extensive resources available to the program as provided by the College.”

The ACEN Board of Commissioners will make a final reaccreditation determination in Spring of 2022.

To learn more about QCC’s Nurse Education program, visit QCC.edu/nursing.

For more information on QCC, contact Karen Hutner, Interim Director of Institutional Communications at 508.854.2842 or khutner [at] qcc.mass.edu

Quinsigamond Community College is the most affordable higher education in Worcester County. As a regional leader in education and workforce development, QCC serves the diverse educational needs of Central Massachusetts by providing affordable, accessible, and high quality programming leading to transfer, career, and lifelong learning.