Cerritos College’s nursing program offers students an opportunity to go into the medical field and prepare for a nursing career.

The nursing program at Cerritos College has been approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing and has also been accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing.

Professor Peggy Stuart said that a luncheon is held at the beginning of every semester by the Student Nurses Association of Cerritos College with student attendance being around 150 people.

“Last Saturday, about 50 students and faculty and families joined a Walk for Lymphoma and Leukemia and raised over $2,000 for the walk held at Angel Stadium,” Stuart said.

She also explained that SNACC holds fundraisers and donates money that it raises to the community.

There are some requirements that must be met to be eligible for the nursing program.

Nursing major Tracy Nguyen explained how she met the requirements. “I took biology, anatomy, physiology, micros and English 100 in order for me to get in.”

The Health Occupations Division’s information packet for an associate’s degree in nursing gives these admission requirements that must be met: have a high school diploma and complete English 100, Math 80 and Reading 54 with a passing grade of a C or higher (with the repetition of only one failed course).

The nursing program is not only lecture. It is also a hands on program that helps students practice and improve their skills in labs.

Nursing major Irene Cortes said about the program, “What I like about this program is it tries to make it easy for us to understand and catch up to learn the things we need to learn, like the fundamentals of nursing that we are taking right now.

“It covers as much as it can teach us and gives us important information so we can get to the next level. It tries its best to make it simple for us and it is always helpful, always available and [has] very nice people.”

Cortes added that she likes how the nurse advisers and professors answer questions as quickly as possible.

Furthermore, Cortes also said that they prepare before going to the clinical by having practice labs. “We practice in the lab so we will be ready if something comes up”.

Nguyen commented about the practice labs the program’s students do.

“I really like (them). (There) is a lot of material that we have to prepare for the class but the teacher is really helpful. (The labs) show examples and different steps. They also have mentors to help us if we really need (guidance).”

She also said that the instructors are available at all times and are at the students’ service when needed.

Stuart gave her thoughts on how the student nurses were going to be affected by the Affordable Care Act’s implementation.

“I do think the new health care law will generate a need for more nurses. It will be positive for our graduates.”

She said that the faculty frequently has meetings to talk about ongoing changes that occur in the medical field to help the program update its curriculum.