Valley Children's celebrates first nursing class to earn BSN degrees

Valley Children’s Healthcare turned a workforce fix into an education pipeline, graduating 14 nurses from its ASN to BSN Pathway Program and placing nine more in the next cohort. The milestone, celebrated Friday, June 5, shows how the Madera hospital and Fresno State are trying to grow nurses from within rather than compete only in the job market.

The program began in January 2025 with 14 Valley Children’s nurses and runs 18 months. Valley Children’s covers coursework, gives nurses paid study time and provides internal mentorship so participants can keep working full-time while earning a bachelor of science in nursing. The hospital and Fresno State described the initiative as a first-of-its-kind partnership when it launched in February 2024.

That matters in Fresno County and across the Central Valley, where hospitals continue to compete for nurses and families depend on pediatric and specialty care close to home. By helping experienced staff earn BSN degrees without leaving their jobs, Valley Children’s is trying to keep more nurses in the region and strengthen the care team already serving local patients.

One graduate, Keri Gavaletz, said she never expected to go back for a bachelor’s degree until the hospital introduced the pathway and made the financial and scheduling pieces workable. That kind of support is central to the program’s appeal: it removes some of the biggest barriers that keep working nurses from advancing their education.

Fresno State said the curriculum was built with a pediatric focus, matching the needs of Valley Children’s workforce. The university’s RN-to-BSN program adds upper-division coursework in leadership, management, research and community health, and Fresno State says graduates may be eligible for a California Public Health Nursing Certificate.

The pathway also fits into a broader 10-year Valley Children’s-Fresno State partnership announced in 2022. That alliance includes scholarships, internships and workforce-development efforts, and the two institutions say they are working to increase the number of nursing graduates by 50% over five years. Valley Children’s said its paid internship program has introduced more than 60 Fresno State students to healthcare in the first two years, with several later hired after graduation.

For a hospital that has earned Magnet designation five times since 2004, most recently in 2024, the message is clear: nursing excellence is not just about recruitment. It is about building a steady path from student to staff nurse to BSN graduate, one cohort at a time.