University of Houston-Clear Lake is helping registered nurses with lapsed licenses find their way back into the workplace amid the pandemic through the college’s Continuing Education program.
The program, which is part of the College of Human Sciences and Humanities, is offering nursing refresher courses starting March 25, according to a March 15 media release from UHCL. The courses are meant to help nurses who have been away from a medical work setting for four or more years in reactivating their registered nurse license and relaunching their careers.
“There are many vitally needed registered nurses who may be working in other jobs or not at all simply because their licenses have lapsed,” said Karen Alexander, nursing program director and assistant professor of nursing, in the release. “Completing these courses helps meet the ever-increasing healthcare demand for excellent nurses with active licenses in our area.”
Both of the two courses are designed to give registered nurses updated knowledge in theory and clinical practice to meet the Texas Board of Nursing requirements for reactivation, Alexander said in the release. Registered nurses must take these courses to reactivate their licenses, and very few programs like this one are already in existence for registered nurses in the Houston-Galveston area, per the release.
Course one, which is delivered in a hybrid format, begins with refresher information in content areas including adult medical-surgical care, pharmacology, medication administration, standards of practice and ethics. The second course begins with simulation and culminates in 80 hours of clinical care delivery at a partnering area hospital.
Austin Community College students who have completed the theory-based course can enroll at UHCL and take the clinical course in the Bay Area, per the release. The partnership helps ensure Austin-area nursing students can also easily complete precepted clinicals, which are one-to-one relationships between senior nursing students and experienced nurses.
Job placement for registered nurses at UHCL is very high, Alexander said in the release. Getting clinical refresher hours in at various local hospitals gives the nursing students a chance to network, provides them with an avenue to put their skills into practice, and allows for their return to delivering effective and quality care as soon as possible.
The fee for the courses is $1,100, plus a $100 book fee, per the release.
