School of Nursing Recognized as Apple Distinguished School

Throughout RCC School of Nursing’s 70 years, the program, faculty and students have earned numerous awards and achievements. The most recent addition to the list is being recognized as an 2021-2024 Apple Distinguished School.

Apple Distinguished Schools are centers of innovation, leadership, and educational excellence. They use Apple technology to connect students to the world, fuel creativity, deepen collaboration, and make learning personal.

The selection of RCC’s School of Nursing (SON) as an Apple Distinguished School highlights our success in creating an innovative and compelling learning environment that engages students and provides tangible evidence of academic achievement.

The SON was recognized for its leadership and educational excellence that demonstrates Apple’s vision for learning with technology. With iPad and other Apple technology, the SON is redefining nursing education pedagogy, transforming knowledge attainment, increasing digital literacy, and improving patient outcomes and professional readiness.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring each student had an iPad in the ADN (RN) and VN programs to bridge the equity and technology divide students faced across the District. Using  iPad, faculty and students were able to continue the teaching and learning experience that allowed students to engage in a learning model and enhance experiential learning activities.

I was so happy that the college issued iPads to students at the start of the pandemic,” Michelle Campos, Associate Degree Nursing student said. “Having the technology allowed us to continue in the program and made learning convenient. We use them for exams, skills testing, exams, reading textbooks, and messaging our professors.”

iPads aided in the program’s success of on-time program completion, thus, adding trained health care providers to the workforce to help serve our community through the global pandemic. Unlike most community college nursing programs in California, SON maintained enrollment in all nursing pathways during the pandemic.

“If it weren’t for the technology and quality products Apple offers, the program wouldn’t have been able to continue through the pandemic,” Tammy VantHul, dean School of Nursing said.

The SON continued to offer synchronous courses, academic support, and other college resources virtually. Apple technology allow faculty to re-imagine nursing education pedagogy, instructional design and implementation.

The iRCC iPad initiative began in 2018 and continues to advance the SON curricula today. Grounded in evidence-based practice, technology, and innovation, the initiative recognizes teaching and learning as dynamic processes and adheres to educational principles from adult learning and social cognitive theories. Through this technology, students collaborate, communicate, create and apply their knowledge, skills, and attitudes by accessing apps for required textbooks, online learning management system, video conferencing, virtual and face-to-face simulations, electronic health record software, testing platforms, drug references, note-taking, and camera features.

The SON is exploring the ability for students to safely bring their iPad into direct-patient care environments to ensure all students have access to point-of-care references and gain experience in documenting nursing care in the electronic health record, ensuring the delivery of quality and safe, patient-centered care.