MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – In Morgantown, 60 nursing students begin the quest for a professional degree with the pledge ceremony. Dean of the West Virginia School of Nursing, Tara Hulsey said during the ceremony students formally commit to honesty, confidentiality and professionalism.
While Hulsey rolls out a five year plan statewide to address the shortage, she has to face the challenges of the labor market as well.
“The nursing faculty shortage is greater than the nursing shortage because nursing faculty can make more money in a practice setting,” Hulsey said. ” So, it’s just as easy as saying we’re going to get more students, it’s really more complicated than that.”
The strategy to fill the nursing pipeline is not all brick and mortar. WVU officials actively recruit candidates for the program with outreach efforts in new territory.
“We’ve launched an extensive marketing and recruitment campaign hitting hard in high schools and starting to do some fairs and things to attract high school students into the nursing profession,” Hulsey said.
On the Keyser campus, the nursing program is celebrating five years and the graduating class of nurses this year. Plans are in the works for an additional expansion at the hospital there for wellness initiative.
Hulsey said accelerated programs are also being considered in Martinsburg and Beckley. While at United Hospital Center in Bridgeport, the first classes will begin in January for the accelerated program there.
“We are bringing our fast track accelerated program to Bridgeport it will be based in the hospital, they’ve built a whole new floor for us,” Hulsey said. “We have a simulation lab, classrooms and offices.”
Studies have shown nurses stay at an initial job after graduation for about a year then move on. But, studies show enhanced pay, benefits and bonus programs will incentivize people to stay.
“We’re really trying to look at how we can keep them at the bedside,” Hulsey said. ” We need BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) nurses at the bedside, we need nurses period at the bedside.”
Nurses that use accelerated programs to attain the Bachelor of Science in Nursing have wider career path in the industry than a Licensed Practical or Registered Nurse. The BSN degree opens up opportunities for administrative positions requiring leadership skills in areas such as research, consulting and education.
“We have years and years of research that shows BSN prepared nurses have better outcomes with their patients and higher safety, so we know the quality of a BSN degree,” Hulsey said.