Plan to give nursing a shot in arm is detailed

A proposed deal would benefit PHCC, hospitals and nursing students, the college chief says. Four hospitals have signed on.

By RYAN DAVIS

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 5, 2000

Nurses don't come cheaply, local hospital administrators say. But a proposed partnership between local hospitals and Pasco-Hernando Community College would make nursing school free for some students, school president Robert Judson said.

It costs hospitals about $35,000 to $40,000 to recruit, relocate, hire and orientate a new nurse, said Bill Jennings, the administrator and chief operating officer of North Bay Medical Center in New Port Richey.

PHCC has proposed that several Pasco and Hernando County hospitals pay about $52,000 each to expand the school's nursing program, and in turn the college would potentially provide each hospital with 10 new nurses.

"It's a very reasonable investment considering the national and certainly regional shortage of nursing that everybody's feeling," Jennings said.

"By all indications, the shortage is going to get even more intense," added Jaime Wesolowski, chief executive officer of Oak Hill Hospital in Spring Hill. "If we can partner with PHCC, we can at least stop the leak a little bit."

Some students would receive an all-expenses-paid education by agreeing to work at one of the hospitals for two years after graduation.

Judson said he hoped the proposed program expansion and funding would reverse dwindling enrollment figures in the school's formerly popular nursing programs.

The $365,000 from the hospitals would buy equipment and pay first-year instructor salaries for an expanded nursing program, Judson said.

The college would recruit up to 10 students for each hospital, Judson said. The hospitals would then pay the tuition, books and fees for those students, and provide additional money for recruitment.

"It's a pretty good deal for the hospitals," Judson said. "It's a pretty good deal for the students. And it's a pretty good deal for the college."

With the additional funding for equipment, the college would purchase a patient care simulator, Judson said.

"It's a mannequin that can simulate practically any kind of ailment the human body can suffer," he said.

Four hospitals -- Community Hospital of New Port Richey, Oak Hill Hospital in Spring Hill, Regional Medical Center at Bayonet Point, and North Bay Medical Center in New Port Richey -- have committed to the program, Judson said. Since the inception of its nursing program in 1977, the college has had various agreements with hospitals to sponsor students, but never an organized effort from several hospitals, Judson said.

Judson met with hospital administrators Aug. 24 and asked them to commit by Dec. 15. He has not heard from Brooksville and Spring Hill regional hospitals, Pasco Regional Medical Center and East Pasco Medical Center.

The program expansion would require approval from the state board of nursing, Judson said. He is looking to begin the program next fall. PHCC would expand its nursing program to include evening and weekend classes. By going three nights a week and six to eight hours every other Saturday and Sunday, 24 students could earn their licensed practical nurse certification in 15 months, Judson said. Another 24 could upgrade from practical nurse to registered nurse in the same period of time.

Under PHCC's standard nursing program, students attend classes four days a week -- typically two at school and two doing clinical work at a hospital -- for two years to receive an RN degree and one year to receive practical nurse certification, Judson said.

Tuition, books and fees for the night and weekend program would be the same -- $2,800 a year -- as the standard program, Judson said.

For the first time, the licensed practical nursing program didn't fill up last year or this year. And only 108 of the 120 spots in the registered nursing program were filled this fall.

About 10 years ago, the nursing program had a 400-person waiting list, Judson said.

The decreasing number of students pursuing careers in nursing stems from increasing job opportunities for women in previously male-dominated fields and a perception that problems in the health care field will reduce the need for nurses, according the Florida Hospital Association.

A study by that association this summer found that 14.7 percent of RN positions in western Florida are open. That includes Pasco County. Statewide, 11.3 percent of RN positions are open.

And while the supply is shrinking, the demand is increasing.

The Florida Department of Labor and Employment Security predicted that the need for RNs will grow by 29.3 percent over the next decade.

-- Ryan Davis covers higher education and social services in Pasco. He can be reached at (800) 333-7505, ext. 3452, or by e-mail at rdavis@sptimes.com.

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