Raritan Bay Medical Center Nursing Program Review
Established in 1902, Raritan Bay Medical Center (RBMC) was opened to serve the health care needs of Central New Jersey. Besides offering high quality medical care to patients, RBMC has a nursing program which dates back to 1903, an year after its opening. The medical center boasts to have been named as a Center of Nursing Excellence by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. In addition to the main medical center at Old Bridge, RBMC also has an auxiliary center at Perth Amboy both of which constitutes its over 500 bed capacity.
RBMC and Middlesex County College Nursing Program
Raritan Bay Medical Center offers a nursing program as a joint effort with Middlesex County College of New Jersey. The 2-year program offers students of Middlesex and Monmouth counties to start on a nursing journey with both practical and theory teaching partners directly working together towards program completion. It is an associate of science degree program that is accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission and approved by the New Jersey Board of Nursing. On its own, Raritan Bay Medical Center also offers nursing professional development and continuing education courses.
Nursing Program
Associate Science (AS) Degree
This program is offered by both Raritan Bay Medical center and Middlesex Community College and is designed for entry-level nursing candidates. Students must apply and be accepted into both schools after completing a Health Technologies entrance exam.
The program is offered on a 5-50 basis for both schools in terms of covering the curriculum This means 35 general education credits are offered at Middlesex Community College while the other 35 credits of nursing courses are offered at Raritan Bay Medical. The program is designed to be competed on a full time basis of four semesters-2 academic years.
Students must be flexible enough to switch between Raritan Bay Medical center and Middlesex College within the first 2 weeks. Besides offering the nursing component of the program, Raritan also serves as the primary clinical site; hence students do not have to travel wide for clinical experience.
After successfully completing the coursework, students graduate with an Associate of Science degree and become eligible to take the NLCEX-RN exam. However, unlike many cooperative programs between medical centers and community colleges, this program does not give a diploma award from the side of the medical center. A double award: associate degree and diploma is common in other cooperative programs.
Articulation Agreements
Graduates of the RBMC Middlesex Community College nursing program can take advantage of articulation agreements between Middlesex and Kean University and Felician College. This enables graduates to smoothly transfer their credits to the 4-year Bachelor of Science in nursing programs at the 2 colleges.
Professional Development
RBMC has been approved by the Council on Continuing Nursing Education to offer Continuing education for nurses. The medical center offers a number of nursing courses including but not limited to:
- Peripheral IV for RNs
- Charge Nurse Workshops
- Neonatal Resuscitation provider
These courses are offered on different timings and registered nurses can check for the exact offering dates from time to time.
Contact:
Raritan Bay Medical Center
1 Hospital Plaza, Old Bridge Township,
NJ 08857
