The Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) recognized PLNU through the Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP) again for 2011. WRAP awards are given to businesses and organizations for their environmentally friendly business strategies. Approximately 280 groups were recognized in 2011.

“This year’s WRAP winners are evidence that businesses and organizations of all sizes are achieving significant waste reduction and recycling goals, all while helping protect the environment and preserve our natural resources,” CalRecycle Director Caroll Mortensen said in a press release. “In 2011, we have 46 first-time winners, and many organizations that have come back year after year with new and stronger waste prevention programs.”

PLNU falls in the later category, having won five WRAP awards.

In total, the winning entries reported diverting more than 2.3 million tons of material from landfills and reported more than $200 million in cost savings.

This February, a $105,000 Special Program State of California Song-Brown grant was awarded to PLNU’s School of Nursing. Song-Brown grants are offered through the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development and the Healthcare Workforce Training Act.  

Thirty-four California nursing programs applied, with two categories available: Capitation and Special Programs. The PLNU School of Nursing Special Programs grant was ranked 7th out of 17 awarded, with commendation for community involvement and a quality program.

The Song-Brown Special Programs grant will be used to purchase high fidelity, computer controlled simulation mannequins for the PLNU Nursing Skills Lab.   

“I think that we are most looking forward to providing our nursing students with learning opportunities that include the state of the art technology that high fidelity mannequins offer,” said Dr. Barb Taylor, dean of PLNU’s School of Nursing. “Students will get to practice their skills and knowledge with these mannequins in a safe environment that is as close to ‘real’ as we can get.”

This competitive Song-Brown grant is focused on nursing programs that are successful in:

• Placing individuals in medically underserved areas
• Attracting and admitting members of minority groups to the program
• Attracting and admitting individuals who were former residents of medically underserved areas and locating the program in medically underserved areas

For context the PLNU School of Nursing data demonstrated that:

• 73 percent of PLNU graduates serve in a Registered Nurse Shortage area (http://www.oshpd.ca.gov/General_Info/MSSA/RNSA_Map.pdf) 
• 34 percent of PLNU students are from underrepresented minorities
• 100 percent of PLNU clinical sites are in medically underserved and Registered Nurse shortage areas
• Faculty diversity mirrors student diversity
• National Licensing Examination (NCLEX) pass rates were greater than 93 percent for the past five years

All clinical courses have a community component with clinical sites located at:

• The Lemon Grove Care and Rehab, where students focus on gerontology and rehab
• The San Diego Unified School District, partnering with a family nurse practitioner implementing the CalSafe program to meet the health education needs of pregnant high school students and their children
• Welcome Home Ministries, working with incarcerated women transitioning back to civilian life
• Bayview Club, an outpatient mental health setting, working with this marginalized population 
• Continued work with the Mid-City Health Promotion Center, where we provide health education and health screening to the uninsured members of the City Heights community. In 2011, over 560 patients were seen.