The Kellogg Community College Nursing Program is pleased to announce that it has voluntarily begun to pursue an additional level of accreditation in response to some health care employers who recently modified their hiring requirements.
“Although not mandatory for the nursing field, KCC is responding to employers’ preferences and is enthusiastically seeking program-specific accreditation through a national nursing accreditation body,” said Dr. Jan Karazim, dean of workforce development at KCC. “The process is lengthy, rigorous and costly, but the College remains committed to obtaining the additional assurance that the program exceeds the quality standards of the profession.”
KCC’s Nursing Program has long maintained approval status from the Michigan State Board of Nursing. This important state endorsement, combined with the College’s ongoing accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission, provides KCC’s nursing graduates with eligibility to complete the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX). Over the years, many nursing graduates – after earning their associate degree in nursing at KCC – have transferred their KCC credits to major public and private universities and earned bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in nursing. The College maintains strong credit-transfer relationships with many universities.
Also, health care employers in the region have a long history of seeking and hiring KCC graduates, many of whom have gone on to enjoy successful careers in nursing and hold high-level positions in advanced practice, nursing education, health care administration and research. Recently, some employers posted minimum job qualifications that include a requirement for new employees to have graduated from a nationally accredited nursing program.
“We’ve never needed program-specific national accreditation, but we feel that the current success of the program puts us in a position to earn yet another feather in our cap and give our students another advantage in their future employment,” Karazim said.
Because of the complexity of the process, the College anticipates that the accreditation process will take at least a year or two.
For more information about Kellogg Community College’s Nursing Program, visit www.kellogg.edu/nursing.