2/1/2008 9:18:00 AM Nursing program expected to spread benefits over Midwest
Courtesy PhotoMaricela Zarate of Madison (right), a nursing student at Northeast Community College, is supervised by Heidi Merritt, a nursing instructor at Northeast, while doing clinic work at Faith Regional Health Services in Norfolk. Hospitals throughout Northeast Nebraska stand to benefit from an increased supply of nurses if a proposed nursing school in Norfolk becomes reality.
Did you know?
In 2006, 102 students graduated from Northeast Community College's nursing program. Of those, 99 percent are either employed in the nursing field or continuing their education. In addition, according to recent graduate employment records, approximately 85 percent of all Northeast graduates stay in Nebraska, and almost 60 percent are employed in the Northeast region.
People who may think that locating a College of Nursing Northern Division in Norfolk will benefit only Norfolk need to think again.
Actually, the impact will be felt throughout Northeast and North Central Nebraska and, possibly, throughout the Midwest.
Supporters of the project predict that the school will provide a close-to-home educational opportunity for students who want to earn nursing degrees.
They also predict that those graduates will stay in the area to work at hospitals, nursing homes, clinics and other health-care facilities.
Once the school is operational, it will award around 50 bachelor's degrees and 20 graduate-level degrees on an annual basis. That's in addition to the 50 associate degrees in nursing already awarded annually by Northeast Community College.
Having the additional nurses in the area will help alleviate the shortage of nurses that impacts not only large institutions, such as Faith Regional Health Services in Norfolk, but also small hospitals and clinics, such as Creighton Area Health Services.
"We need nurses," said Jeff Lingerfelt, administrator of the health-care facilities in Creighton.
Creighton Area Health Services - which includes a hospital, clinic and nursing home - currently employs 43 nurses. While that number is sufficient for today's needs, the inability to hire additional nurses and nurses with bachelor's or advanced degrees has prevented an expansion of services.
For example, Lingerfelt said Creighton would consider offering home-health care or services to new mothers who have had their babies in Norfolk or Yankton if more nurses were available.
Another concern of Lingerfelt's - and many other medical administrators - is the number of nurses who will be retiring in the next few years.
Lingerfelt estimates that 56 percent of the nurses at Creighton Area Health Services will retire within the next 10 years. Many other health care facilities are facing the same challenge.
"The number of nurses who will reach retirement . . . will be greater than the number of students graduating from programs," said Lisa Walters, chief nursing officer at Faith Regional Health Services.
Those nurses nearing retirement are from the same generation that can look forward to living longer, thanks to advances in medical technology.
And when they do need medical care, they may be able to receive it in their hometowns - thanks to the hoped-for nursing division in Norfolk.
For instance, Faith Regional Health Services now provides bedside dialysis for people with kidney problems, as well as lung surgery and heart procedures. Those patients often require nurses who have advanced degrees or specialized training, Walter said.
Nurses with advanced degrees also are needed to work in health-care management positions as teachers or - in the case of nurse practitioners - in their own practice.
The fact that a nurse practitioner, who will be trained at the College of Nursing Northern Division, can set up his or her own practice - as long as he or she collaborates with a physician - is another benefit to small towns that are struggling to keep health-care providers, Walters said.
Area towns also will benefit by having student nurses doing their clinical practice in their hospitals.
In the past, Northeast Community College nursing students completed their clinical work at Faith Regional.
Now, many of those students will do their clinicals in the area hospitals so the students earning advanced degrees through UNMC can do their clinicals at Faith Regional, said Dr. Bill Path, president of Northeast Community College.
Ron Briggs, president of St. Francis Memorial Hospital in West Point, recognizes the advantages of having Northeast's nursing students working in West Point.
"We've been very lucky . . . in that we've been able to hire quite a few students from Northeast," he said.
Having the school in Norfolk also will allow nurses from West Point to more easily obtain their bachelor's and graduate degrees.
"It's an excellent (partnership) for our area," Briggs said.
* * *
Coming tomorrow: The need for a nursing division in Norfolk is felt strongly by community and area residents.
