Lawmaker aims to end lottery system for nursing schools
Stockton Record 5/14/07
The Modesto Republican, whose district includes the Mother Lode, is shepherding through the Legislature a measure that would scrap the existing lottery system used by many California community colleges in favor of a merit-based system.
Berryhill hopes the switch will help return the dropout rates among nursing students to the more normal 15 percent they were before the state instituted the lottery system in the 1990s. Since it was put in place, many schools see rates as high as 40 percent.
More graduates means more nurses on the job, and the San Joaquin Valley needs every nurse it can get.
A study done at California State University, Fresno, released last week shows that the Valley's nursing shortage is reaching crisis levels. The author of that study said that if enough nurses aren't found, patients will have longer hospital stays and worse care.
San Joaquin Delta College switched from a lottery to a merit-based system a little more than a year ago. Modesto Junior College's nursing program still uses a lottery to select among applicants already screened for academic skill.
Mary Neville, who runs Delta's nursing school, says it's too soon to truly tell if its new merit-based system is lowering dropout rates.
"But yes, without working the numbers, it looks like it is making some difference," Neville said.
Berryhill's legislation would require any community college with more applicants than nursing slots - Delta has 393 for 80 openings - to develop a new system that relies on merit. The bill leaves the details up to the schools.
Forty-two schools still use either the lottery or first-come, first-served enrollment.
Berryhill says merit, not luck, will be better for both the students and the nursing system.
"What this is for is to keep these kids from being set up for failure," he said Wednesday during a hearing on the bill.
As Louise Timmer of the American Nurses Association of California said, "It does no good to enroll 100 and graduate 50."
Lodi's Vicki Schmierer couldn't agree more. Schmierer retired from Lodi Memorial Hospital in February after 28 years as a nurse there. She said the lottery system did not help the profession.
"We noticed it immediately," Schmierer said.
So did nursing instructor Tim Regehr, who lives in Amador County but has taught at Delta College. Yet he says grades alone shouldn't be the test, since he's seen lots of people with good grades lack the fortitude to be a nurse. Regehr and Schmierer think outside experience - such as time spent as a nurse's aide - should factor in as well.
"That's instrumental," Regehr said. "If they can't handle the grunt work, they can't handle being an RN. It's all about serving people."
Any merit-based system will have to guard against excluding minorities, skeptics of the proposal warn. They note that the lottery was designed to increase their access to the profession.
"I am concerned with ending up with a less diverse student body," said Assemblywoman Anna Caballero, D-Salinas.
Delta's Neville said another factor to consider is the special nature of community colleges, which, unlike schools such as the University of California, Berkeley, or University of the Pacific, are required to be open to all. So excluding potential students gets dicey in a hurry.
Neville said they are required to closely monitor their merit-based system to ensure it's fair to everyone.
"We have to serve the community in which we live to the best of our ability," she said.
Caballero, despite her concerns, voted for Berryhill's bill, which has yet to receive a "no" vote in two committee hearings. It is scheduled for debate by the full Assembly on Thursday.
Details of AB1559 are at www.leginfo.ca.us.