For Paige Plancich, it’s all about empowering the patient.
A student in Carroll College’s inaugural 15-month Accelerated Nursing track, Plancich, 26, understands the feelings of vulnerability associated with being ill.
“Vulnerability as a whole is not comfortable for any of us. Most of the people we see and treat on a daily basis are really sick and not feeling their best,” she said. “It’s a difficult time in their lives. But as nurses, we have the opportunity to help empower them by using the skills we have learned in school to help our patients get back on their feet and return home in a healthier frame of mind.”
Now accepting applications
The college’s intensive accelerated track – now accepting applications for its second cohort class – is designed for students who have already completed a bachelor’s degree in a non-nursing field and are looking for new opportunities. Students in this track build on their previous degree, undergoing the additional coursework and clinical experiences that are required to become a registered nurse. Unlike a regular semester-based nursing program, students in the accelerated track work in six- to eight-week increments, doubling down on class and lab times and clinical hours.
Most recently, with support from Montana Governor Greg Gianforte and Accelerate Montana, Carroll College will be able to award 16 scholarships for students who intend to work as nurses in Montana after graduation. Full-time students who are new to the program will be eligible to apply, with scholarships awarded based on incoming GPA and financial need. Interested applicants are encouraged to reach out to the Carroll Admissions team and the Financial Aid Office for more information.
Highly focused curriculum
“The accelerated track is basically a traditional semester-track program, but at hyper-speed,” Plancich said. “When students in the regular programs are typically taking midterms, we are taking our final exams, since semesters are split into two sessions. It’s very focused. Because of that, the students who enroll and are accepted know this is exactly what they want to do.”
The Carroll College nursing curriculum focuses on a holistic approach to healthcare, allowing us to incorporate the students' previous non-medical knowledge into the science of nursing care. Lauren Swant, Associate Professor and Program Director/Department Chair of Carroll College’s Nursing Program explains, "Our students begin their clinical experiences in the 200-level nursing courses and have access to a broad range of clinical settings. Additionally, the new state-of-the-art E.L.Wiegand Simulation Center at Carroll College is a fundamental resource that allows us to incorporate high-fidelity simulations throughout the nursing curriculum as a strategy to provide students interactive, practice-based instruction.
It is not required that students have previous medical experience to apply to Carroll College’s Accelerated Nursing track. However, Plancich said most of the students already have some sort of medical background upon entering the program, having worked as emergency medical technicians in emergency rooms or in pain clinics, for example. She herself had worked for five years as a mental health technician at a children’s hospital, followed by a year at a Helena area orthopedic clinic. With a bachelor’s degree in biology from the school’s undergrad program, Plancich had always assumed she would become a doctor, but she decided nursing was more her calling.
After graduating with a bachelor’s in health science, fellow student Emily Mihalic, 32, worked for two years as an EMT, five years as a phlebotomist at a community medical center in Missoula and two years in triage at a pain clinic before applying and being accepted into the program.
“It’s fast. It’s all there in the name – accelerated,” Mihalic said. “You have to make sure that you are in a spot in your life where you can put everything on hold for 15 months because you will have to be completely, 100% devoted to the work. The big reward at the end is that you are graduating from a prestigious nursing program and can have your pick of jobs.”
Where passion meets experience
“Since we’ve been in the field for a few years, we’ve seen it up close and have really come to know this is our passion,” Plancich said. “We truly know in our hearts this is what we were called to do.”
Mihalic couldn’t agree more.
“I’m so grateful for my previous experience because each position prepared me for the intensity of the program, the familiarity with some of the work and the effort required in caring for patients,” Mihalic said.
Nurses make an impact
After working at the children’s hospital, Plancich saw the impact that the nurses made not only on their patients’ lives, but on the lives of the patients’ families and members of the community.
“It’s the nurses who get to spend the most time with a patient and as a result, it’s the nurses who have the opportunity to build a more meaningful relationship with the patient. And that’s what makes nursing so special,” she said.
Mihalic, the recipient of a Veterans Affairs scholarship, is looking forward to graduation to find out where in the U.S. she will be placed.
“It could be anywhere,” she said, “and I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to practice nursing and start my life again with an incredible new skill set that allows me to care for patients.”
For more information about Carroll College’s Accelerated Nursing track, visit carroll.edu/nursing/accelerated-nursing.
