Thursday, May 1, 2008

Augusta Technical College to offer nursing program


Augusta Technical College to offer nursing program; Tom Corwin The Augusta Chronicle, Ga.
McClatchy - Tribune Business News 04-02-2008


Augusta Technical College to offer nursing program
Byline: Tom Corwin The Augusta Chronicle, Ga.
Type:Financial

Apr. 2--
With the state facing an even greater shortage of nurses in the future, Augusta Technical College is preparing to pitch in.

The school was recently granted permission by the Georgia Board of Nursing to create an associate degree in nursing program, which won't begin until 2010. It is part of an informal effort by nursing programs at area schools to coordinate efforts to ensure that more nurses are being produced at all levels.
Augusta Tech has wanted a nursing program for years. But just in the past year it completed a study showing not only a need but also that the school will be able to count on all of the local hospitals as clinical teaching sites, President Terry Elam said.

"The big thing was could we supply the clinical sites," he said.

University Hospital was a key piece of that, Mr. Elam said. The school is aiming for 25 students a class in the two-year program, which would allow them to become registered nurses, he said. Many of those will go on to a four-year program, either at Medical College of Georgia or perhaps Augusta State University, which nursing leaders said is hoping to convert its two-year program into a four- year baccalaureate program.

In addition, MCG is pushing for more graduate education of nurses. Its new Clinical Nurse Leader program allows those with other undergraduate degrees to get a master's degree in nursing.

"We did establish our philosophy that we see different roles for the different institutions in this area, but there will be overlapping also," said Lucy Marion, the dean of the MCG School of Nursing.

The school will continue its undergraduate baccalaureate program but supports Augusta State getting one "because we support the highest-educated nurse to meet the needs of this very complex health society," she said.

Overall, the University System of Georgia plans to increase nursing graduates from 1,900 last year to 2,700 by 2010. That means the state would be producing more than 3,000 new nurses a year.

"That's still not enough," Dr. Marion said.

The Georgia Hospital Association found in 2006 that 59 percent of the nurses in the state were over age 40 and 27 percent were older than 50 . That means the state will need at least 8,000 more nurses by 2012, according to the Nursing Education Task of the University System of Georgia.

That's why University is supporting all of these efforts, said Marilyn Bowcutt, the vice president for patient care services.

"We know that we have to start getting more people in the pipeline in order to replace the retiring nurses, for the future," she said.

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