CCBC Nursing Educator Named PA Practical Nursing Administrators’ “Educator of the Year”

(Monaca, PA) – Community College of Beaver County (CCBC) today announced associate professor of nursing, Sally Fitzgerald, MSN, RN, CCM, has been named Pennsylvania Practical Nursing Administrators’ (PAPNA) Educator of the Year. Professor Fitzgerald was honored on Wednesday, May 10 in Lewisburg for her dedication to students and her continuing commitment to the excellence and growth of the College’s Practical Nursing (PN) diploma program.

Presented to an outstanding practical nursing educator within the PAPNA community, the Educator of the Year award recognizes a practical nursing educator’s commitment to excellence and innovation in preparing practical nurses. Key criteria for the determining the award recipient include examination of nominees’ educational approaches to improve general nursing and practical nursing, and their innovative approaches to address priorities in practical nursing education.

Fitzgerald was nominated by CCBC’s professor of nursing/practical nursing coordinator, Elaine Strouss, MSN, RN, CNE, who commented, “As evidence of her commitment to the program and to her students, Sally has maintained a culture of excellence at CCBC.” Strouss added, “Thanks, in part to Sally’s efforts, our clinical site staff describes our practical nursing students as ‘well-prepared,’ ‘professional,’ and ‘capable;’ and are anxious to hire our students upon graduation. I cannot think of a more appropriate PN “Educator of the Year.”

CCBC’s PN program was ranked No. 1 in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 2016, and has achieved a 100% student pass rate on the National Council for Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for 11 out of the last 12 years.

“Sally has been a real champion for Practical Nurses and this award is much deserved,” said Dr. Shelly Moore, Dean of the CCBC School of Nursing and Allied Health.

To learn more about the Practical Nursing program, contact CBCC’s Information and Registration Center at (724) 480-3500 or visit ccbc.edu/PracticalNursing.

About CCBC

CCBC transforms lives through personalized education, dynamic partnerships, and high impact practices. The college has an annual enrollment of 6,800 credit and non-credit students. CCBC is an Achieving the Dream Leader College and offers 75 degree, certificate and diploma programs, hundreds of Continuing Education and Workforce Development programs, seamless transfer to a wide variety of baccalaureate and graduate institutions, and a nationally distinctive high school academy dual enrollment program. In 2017, the Aspen Institute named CCBC one of America’s Top 150 community colleges.