Ready to be a healthcare hero and make a difference in your community? Apply to the two-year Registered Nursing (RN) program at Santa Ana College (SAC).
Whether you intend to join the workforce immediately after graduating with your RN degree, or continue your studies at a four-year university to earn your Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), SAC offers you high-quality nursing education and comprehensive training, including clinical hours.
Best of all, SAC RN graduates have exceptional job prospects, earning placements at more than 25 local hospitals in and around Orange County, as well as outstanding university transfer rates. So, wherever your nursing education takes you, it all starts in the Health Sciences Department at Santa Ana College.
Recently, SAC's RN program received “continued approval" from the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) along with “continued accreditation" from the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN). The approval and accreditation are for eight-year terms. “These concurrent designations affirm the stellar quality of SAC's RN training and come at a time when nurses are in high demand," said Mary Steckler, SAC's director of Nursing and associate dean of Health Sciences.
“Facilities cannot get enough nurses, ever since the COVID pandemic," Steckler said, adding that the intensity of the pandemic led to increased burnout and early retirement for many in the field, amping up the need for newly trained nurses.
Santa Ana College Director of Nursing and Associate Dean of Health Sciences Mary Steckler
Thanks to the relatively low cost of SAC's RN program, the department regularly sees more than 600 applicants per semester, enrolling 60 RN students each Fall and 40 RN students each spring. In 2023, the cost for SAC's two-year RN degree was approximately $6,000, compared to $60,000 or more at a private college.
The new approval and accreditation status comes as the 200-student Registered Nursing program moved into the new 55,563-square-foot, state-of-the-art Health Sciences Building in early 2024. This new building was partially funded by Measure Q along with state and other local funds. The new facility houses programs for allied health fields, including SAC's Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Occupational Therapy, Medical Assistant, Pharmacy Technology and Nursing programs. Nursing students will benefit from expanded simulation suites in the new building, which will provide the latest in high-technology healthcare training.
As the daughter of a nurse and a lifelong Orange County resident, Steckler says nursing was always her calling. She began teaching at SAC in 1999 while working as a local Emergency Room nurse, often sharing her ER experiences with students. “It is a calling," she added, encouraging students who want to give back to their communities to enter the rewarding field of nursing.
For more information about the Registered Nursing program at Santa Ana College, visit the SAC RN Program Website. The application period for Fall 2024 admission is February 1-15, 2024, while the application period for Spring 2025 admission to the RN program is September 1-15, 2024.. SAC's Nursing department can be reached at (714) 564-6825.
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