To compare and contrast progression pathways synthesize the most common decisions that institutional leaders face ,and describe the most promising practice, including their design elements and resuts,the authors began by identifying the range of desingn decisione that emerged from interview with the 31 informants. The authors found that each instiution mixes and matches the following components:
• Degress offered,such as RN-to-BSN, RN-to-Master of Science in Nursing (MSN),Bachelor or Arts-to-BSN.
• Admission criteria,such as minimum overall grade point average(GPA) and minimum nursing course GPA.
• Enrollment of students in a BSN orMSN program before graduating an associate degree nursing program(ADN).
• Number of additional credits that should be required.
• Recogntion of work experience in admission criteria.
• Degree of coordination of curriculum among scools
• Location of face-to-face classes to be offered, such as those in community colleges, in Workplace, and in community centers
• Coordinating clinical practice sites among regional schools.
• Sharing of faculty among community college and 4-year programs.
• Conferring of a BSN degree by a community college when allowed bystate law, as well as identifying the type and amount of additional resources needed.
• Offering the program online, as a hybraid, or face-to-face.
• Negotiaating tuition discounts with community colleges to encourage the transfer of students.
• Type of articulation and financial agreements neede,such as rental of classrooms
The four case studies demonstrate how institutions respond to these components in the context of their own backgrounds,interests,and geographic realites.case study1 is of a private university in Maryland,which,in the context of a stastewide
Mandatate,began establishing partnerships with community colleges . The second case is of a large employer in Chicago thatmade the decision to have 100% of their employer be BSN-prepared to established agreements with several nursing programs to help with implementation.case study3persents the story of a community college in Florida that establisher its own BSN program, which graduates hunduates hundred of nurses peryear.Finally,case study 4 is of acommuity college in lllinois that has been a leader in actively promoting curriculum coordination to create a continuum of stackble degrees.