ALEXANDER CITY, Ala. – The Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) granted continuing accreditation with removal of good cause for Central Alabama Community College’s associate degree in nursing (ADN) program.
The re-accreditation comes at a pivotal time in the program’s expansion of its student nurse apprenticeship program.
“This is an exciting time for CACC and the Coosa Valley School of Nursing,” Dr. Jennifer Steele, Health Science Program Administrator, mentioned. “Nursing faculty have worked tirelessly over the past years to improve program outcomes and are now able to see the hard work pay off. While COVID has been devastating over the past two and a half years, it provided nursing programs and our accreditation organization the opportunity to reevaluate nursing program outcome standards that truly benefit programs like ours. We are grateful for all the support provided by our clinical partners and look forward to many years of educating nurses in the CACC communities.”
This notification came from the on-site visit back in March, and now provides the green light for CACC’s Nursing program to move forward as fully accredited without conditions or good cause.
Full re-accreditation allows the nursing program to continue to grow to meet local healthcare industry shortages. Having been limited in admission numbers due to accreditation concerns, continuing accreditation will allow the program to admit a more robust number of applicants.
“I want to commend Dr. Steele and her faculty for their hard work, dedication, and commitment to the excellence of our ADN program,” Jeff Lynn, president of CACC, stated. “This news comes as a result of their efforts to make sure CACC has one of the top programs in the state. Excellent healthcare is crucial to society, and it is a priority for us at CACC to give our nursing students the best opportunities possible.”