Making Career Changes Possible: Five Years of the Post-Baccalaureate Accelerated Associate Degree (PBAD) in Nursing

Community College of Philadelphia’s PBAD program allows students to move quickly through their Nursing curriculum, setting them up for success in just 15 months. This program is designed for students who already have bachelor’s degrees, or higher, in non-nursing majors, giving students an opportunity to make a career change quickly and affordably. This year, the College celebrated the fifth graduating PBAD class with an evening of joy, pride, networking and communing around our 2024 graduates, the largest class the program has seen so far, along with the incoming Class of 2025, who will graduate in August of this year.

Taking place during National Nurses Week, this celebration brought together current students, graduates, and faculty and staff to network and hear about each other’s successes in the program and post-graduation. Over the last five years, the PBAD program has graduated 149 students and continues to grow, with alum now working at places like Holy Redeemer, University of Pennsylvania Hospital, Presbyterian Hospital, Pottstown Hospital, Virtua Hospital and Kindred Hospital. Graduates work in several areas, such as mental health, med-surg telemetry, innovation unit, intensive care unit, emergency room, interventional radiology, ultrasound iv team, community settings and postpartum/mother/baby.

At the event, attendees were delighted with a presentation of photos and news updates submitted by students and graduates, demonstrating the impact and importance of their work, and their reach across greater Philadelphia. “Philadelphia is a city of ‘eds and meds,’ but there is still a lot of stigma around associate degree nursing and what students are capable of,” said Dr. Lisa Johnson, professor and Nursing department head. “But through this option, we've been able to break down some of those barriers, including with one of our graduates from the first cohort receiving best evidence-based practice project during their nurse residency program.”

Not only are students breaking barriers around their capabilities and performance, but around larger, socio-economic stigmas, too. Dr. Johnson spoke of a student who originally wanted to go into Nursing but thought he wouldn’t be capable because of his ADHD diagnosis. After meeting with the student, Dr. Johnson encouraged him to apply to the program anyway, showing him that those barriers were only there if he let them be. “He said his whole goal of becoming a nurse was that in the Black community, there's stigma with mental health,” she said. “He said that he thought he would have done better if his ADHD had been treated as a kid.” Now, that student is a nurse, helping to give others the chance he had.

Lisa also spoke of another student, Damian Padilla, who opened his own clinic after graduating from the program. “The PBAD Nursing program at CCP laid a strong foundation for my career by providing me with the skills, support and real-world experience I needed to thrive in the health care field,” Damian said. “Their dedicated faculty and rigorous training not only prepared me for advanced nursing practice but also gave me the confidence to open my own clinic.”

Dr. Johnson also appreciates the community that students have built together, even when some share different viewpoints. Reflecting on a time when several students were struggling as the final exam was approaching, she recalled, “When I tell you how amazing it was to watch the entire class come together and say, ‘not one of us will fail,’ and not one did.”

CCP and the Nursing department look forward to growing this program even more and providing the region with high quality, empathetic, and inspiring nurses.