Utah Strives to Fund Nursing Schools

By Erin Stewart Deseret Morning News

A statewide initiative to crank up the number of nurses entering the workforce is making a dent for Utah nursing schools, but some programs still have waiting lists of hundreds of students who can’t be accommodated.

Although roughly $1.8 million in state funding this year increased the number of nursing students by 37 percent, that funding needs to keep coming if Utah schools are going to be able to keep up with a growing nursing shortage, said Donna Lister, president of the Utah Organization of Nurse Leaders.

“If projections are accurate, then we’re going to need to continue to educate a significant number of nurses to take care of the population,” Lister said. “Yes, it’s helped because we have more graduates, but we’d love to keep that funding level up.”

This year’s money was the second installment of a five-year nursing initiative, which is halfway finished and in need of more ongoing funds, Lister added. In this legislative session, higher education officials asked for another $700,00 in ongoing funds and $500,000 in one-time money to keep up with the demand for more nurses.

That demand is being met by eager students, said Joyce Barra, nursing director at Salt Lake Community College. The hold-up is finding enough faculty to open courses and funnel more students through the program, she said.

At SLCC, for example, slots for the nursing program are booked up until 2010 with students who have already been accepted into the program. Others, Barra said, are either on waiting lists of hundreds or have given up and are now trying to get into private schools.

“That’s the biggest complaint we get at the community college — are you really serving the community when you have to wait so long?” Barra said. “We don’t have faculty, we don’t have sites.”

The picture is similar at Southern Utah University, where roughly 300 students have already declared nursing as their major with only 100 slots available. Fifty students have already been accepted into the program but are waiting for a spot to open so their training can actually begin.

But Gary Wixom, associate higher education commissioner for academic affairs, is quick to note the funding has made ripples. In Nephi, for example, a new outreach program from Snow College has doubled the number of licensed practical nurses getting their degree.

“When you get out and see that, it really is quite exciting to see the impact that has. Those nurses will be trained and many of them will stay right here in the local area,” Wixom said.

Barra, too, said the funding has helped; it’s just not enough. SLCC was able to hire two new faculty and open up slots for 160 more students in the nursing program. The nursing school is also hoping to buy two high-tech simulation mannequins for lab practice.

Liezle Hill was able to get into SLCC’s nursing program thanks to a new part-time curriculum recently opened with state funds. The program offers 26 straight months of classes, ushering students through in a fast-paced format.

If Hill hadn’t gotten into the part-time class, she would have been waiting until 2008 for a spot.

“I feel like I was really lucky. I almost slipped through the cracks,” said Hill, who noted that many of her friends dropped off waiting lists after a year and a half.

Other schools such as the University of Utah have also been able to add new faculty to their payroll, hiring two new faculty and increasing the nursing program by 25 students.

The U. was also able to fund two new programs with initiative money, one for accelerated students with a bachelor’s degree and another program designed just for nurses who want to become teachers, hopefully increasing the number of instructors for all the Utah schools so they can accept more students.

“Some people think we have a nursing shortage because there are not enough folks interested in nursing. That’s not the case in Utah. We actually have a large applicant pool,” said Maureen Keefe, dean of the U. College of Nursing.

Angela Butler joined the U.’s accelerated program this fall, already equipped with a zoology degree. The new program had skimpy competition compared to the regular nursing program.

“There’s just not enough room for all those that qualify,” Butler said. “They’re frustrated because they’d like to move on with their lives. They’re just not able to progress in meeting their goals and fulfilling their dreams. They’re pretty frustrated.”

E-mail: estewart@desnews.com