“Growing Your Own” Nursing Staff with a Collaborative Accelerated Second-Degree, Web-Based Program

A viable approach to addressing the nursing shortage has been the advent of accelerated models of nursing education (205 programs in 2007) to produce new baccalaureate-prepared nurses. This article provides a brief description of an online accelerated second-degree program and the accelerated students, followed by a discussion of the important collaborative role that hospital educators provide, along with nursing faculty, in the development of coaches for students' clinical experiences. Graduates of the program report feeling well prepared for the clinical arena after participating in this 12-month coach-student-faculty triad. Employment opportunities after graduation in the student's assigned clinical facility have led to an exciting outcome of "growing your own" nursing staff. Timely communication remains important among students, faculty, coaches, and the health care facility.