College to Expand Nursing Program
Jul. 25–The Herald York Technical College will be expanding its nursing program by 16 students in the fall thanks to a $45,000 grant from Piedmont Medical Center.
The grant enables the college to hire two part-time teachers to serve the additional students, said Mary Anne Laney, York Tech’s associate dean of nursing and allied health.
“The need for nurses is so great,” said Laney. “A lot of hospitals have been helping out the local schools so they can get more nurses out and hopefully we won’t have such a shortage.”
The grant will expand the college’s 30-year-old nursing program for 11z2 years. PMC and college officials hope to find money to continue the expanded program permanently, said Charlie Miller, PMC’s chief executive officer.
“The nurse shortage is an important issue to all the hospital industry,” said Miller. “It’s a nationwide issue that is not unique to York County.”
Across the country, there is a need for 148,000 nurses, Miller said. In South Carolina, there is a shortage of between 15,000 and 20,000. By 2020, the nationwide shortage is expected to be close to 800,000.
At PMC, the vacancy rate among its 500 nurses is a little above its normal 7 percent to 8 percent, Miller said.
There are many reasons for the shortage. Fewer women are choosing nursing as a career now that they have other options available, said Miller. Plus, nursing is more challenging because patients admitted to hospitals are sicker today than they used to be.
“We operate 365 days a year, 24 hours a day,” said Miller. “Somebody has to be here at night and on weekends and holidays.”
York Tech’s nursing program is limited to 124 students, including those in classes at its Chester branch and in Lancaster. More than 250 are on the waiting list. The program employs nine full-time instructors and about eight part-time instructors.
The school offers a one-year practical nurse program and a two-year program for registered nurses. Students must take general education course as well as nursing classes.
Students also spend more than 700 hours over five semesters in nursing homes, hospitals and the state’s mental health facility in Columbia. At PMC, student nurses work in various units, including pediatrics, obstetrics and surgery.
Nursing students today run the gamut and include women returning to work after raising children, displaced textile workers and teachers looking for a second career. About 6 percent of York Tech’s nursing students are men, said Laney.
Mary Kaye Halterman, PMC’s interim director of intermediate and critical care, became a nurse 30 years ago to help people, she said.
“Nursing is a very intimate job,” she said. “It’s a tough job. It’s also very rewarding.”
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