The Ohio Board of Nursing made the decision to put Sinclair Community College’s Nursing program on an 18 month provisional approval following a site visit last September where they found an unlicensed instructor and record keeping problems, according to Madeline Iseli, chief of staff.
The decision will not affect the ability of any students or graduates of the college to sit for the certification exam, Iseli said.
“The program is still approved and working under the compliance of the board of nursing regulations,” Iseli said. “And the program continues to and has produced graduates, who pass the certification exam higher than state and national averages. So none of that has changed.”
The conditional approval decision made this month will require quarterly reports but as of print, the board had not officially contacted the department with the details of what the reports should contain.
Redundant procedures have been put in place within the Human Resources and Nursing department to make sure verification and documentation of credentials are checked on a regular basis, according to Iseli. The unlicensed instructor, Mary Beth Lodge, was immediately let go after the site visit.
Lodge was teaching one day elective courses for the department, once a quarter, without a license since 2005.
Iseli said that the concerns were of the upmost importance to the college and that the board acknowledged that the issues had been mostly taken care of.
“It’s important to Sinclair and the nursing program that it be reviewed on a regular basis by an outside authority to make sure there is the quality instruction and record keeping,” she said. “The board of nursing approval and continual review are held as a high priority for the college.”