Guyanese Family Nurse Practitioner Derrice Gordon, vice president and co-founder of Ready to Pass Inc., and co-founder and the director of nursing at Transitions Career Institute (TCI) School of Nursing in College Point, Queens, prides herself in being “a master’s prepared RN with many years of clinical experience.”
She told Caribbean Life over the weekend that she began her nursing career in a high school LPN program, then obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn in 1991 and her Master of Science from the same university in 2000.
Gordon, who has been a nurse since 1985, said she also prides herself in the provision of “high-quality care” to her clients and places “equal importance on teaching students to become professional and proficient entry-level nurses in the healthcare continuum.”
She said she served as assistant head nurse on a “busy medical-surgical unit” for eight years at Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, and taught in the College of Nursing at New York University and Beth Israel School of Nursing for over nine years, along with other institutes of higher learning in the New York City area.
Through her entrepreneurial spirit, Gordon said she “seized an opportunity to engage in the training and enhancement of the nursing student in preparation for passing the NCLEX® examination in order to not only to help the student pass the exam on their first attempt but also to help failing schools increase their initial pass rates to remain viable businesses.”
Since the inception of her company in 2003, Ready to Pass, Inc., which she co-owns with Rhonda Savain, RN, MSN, Gordon said she has been responsible for “salvaging several nursing schools in various states from closing” and is “directly responsible for over 10,000 students passing the NCLEX® exam.”
“Ready to Pass has had a profound impact on the nursing school graduate community by not only teaching the student how to be a better test taker, but how to be a better nurse,” she said. “We have spent 20 years giving back to the profession that we love through education and training.
“Our students remain connected to us after licensure for support with resume writing and guidance on employment,” Gordon added. “We pride ourselves on training generations of nursing families due to the trust developed over time.”
She said TCI, which offers training leading to a Certificate in Practical Nursing, opened in 2014, when she collaborated with Claudia Houston, RN, MA and Savain, partner at Ready to Pass, Inc.
Gordon said the program is approved by the New York State Education Department, and is a candidate for accreditation with Middle States Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools.
“Our vision was to offer an affordable and accessible program for communities that are otherwise underserved,” she said. “We are nurses teaching nurses and giving back to the profession that we have committed our lives to.
“The institute is committed to increasing the nursing work force by meeting the educational needs of our students in addition to the holistic needs of the client population,” added Gordon, stating that TCI provides “opportunities for individuals to learn and develops healthcare skills that will allow them to become valued members of the nursing profession.”
With her expertise, compassion and commitment to excellence, Gordon is proud in being “a trusted healthcare professional, who has made a significant difference” in the lives of her students.
Gordon said her dedication to providing “exceptional educational services” and her “passion for advancing the nursing profession” make her “a valued member of the healthcare community.”
TCI is located at 133-11 20th Ave., 2nd FL., College Point, New York 11356.
