The Rio Hondo College Associate Degree Nursing Program was established in the Spring of 1968. Through the succeeding years there have been many changes initiated, based on the needs of the students and community served. Currently, one hundred students are admitted each year. The ADN program has expanded its clinical experiences to include a variety of community based facilities, including geriatric day care, home health care, hospice, school-based health center, planned parenthood and an outpatient women's health clinic. The Associate Degree Nursing Program is highly regarded in the community for the quality of education provided and the competency of students who graduate and become registered nurses.

The Associate Degree Nursing Program has realized the goal of using the latest technology to promote student learning and success. ADN students have access to the Internet through the Health Science Skill Center and utilize a comprehensive online database called ProQuest, which is provided through the library web page. Full text articles from a variety of journals and other publications are provided through this online database. The Skill Center includes a large library of interactive videodisks and interactive CD-ROMs that stimulate critical thinking in all areas of nursing. Computerized simulator devices stimulate critical thinking and promote skill development in intravenous therapy in a variety of situations.

The faculty has designed nursing web pages that provide information about the nursing program and resources for students searching for health related information. One of the pages provides a link to the nursing web sites of State Colleges and Universities. Transfer to a BSN or accelerated MSN program is promoted through the use of this resource. 

A preceptorship program provides the culminating experience for Rio Hondo College Associate Degree Nursing students. This program combines the efforts of educators, students and nursing service, in preparing senior level nursing students to function more efficiently and with less stress in their first position as an employed staff nurse. Staff nurses from participating hospitals, specially trained through a comprehensive workshop to serve as preceptors, are paired with senior nursing students from Rio Hondo College. Selected registered nurse preceptors facilitate the professional development of students in the clinical setting by directly teaching, role modeling, guiding, challenging and contributing to the evaluation of the student on a one-to-one basis. The faculty member supports and collaborates with preceptors to implement the preceptorship program.

A competent, supportive Associate Degree Nursing faculty is recognized for maintaining the program's high standards and its reputation as an exemplary program in the community. The faculty is committed to providing an environment that stimulates critical thinking, promotes a quest for knowledge, and results in student learning and success.