When I went to Augusta Tech there was a 2-3 year wait to get in to the LPN course. The schools need to have more classes and also offer night classes for the people that work full time.
With the state facing an even greater shortage of nurses in the future, Augusta Technical College is preparing to pitch in.
The school was recently granted permission by the Georgia Board of Nursing to create an associate degree in nursing program, which won't begin until 2010. It is part of an informal effort by nursing programs at area schools to coordinate efforts to ensure that more nurses are being produced at all levels.
Augusta Tech has wanted a nursing program for years. But just in the past year it completed a study showing not only a need but also that the school will be able to count on all of the local hospitals as clinical teaching sites, President Terry Elam said.
"The big thing was could we supply the clinical sites," he said.
University Hospital was a key piece of that, Mr. Elam said. The school is aiming for 25 students a class in the two-year program, which would allow them to become registered nurses, he said. Many of those will go on to a four-year program, either at Medical College of Georgia or perhaps Augusta State University, which nursing leaders said is hoping to convert its two-year program into a four-year baccalaureate program.
In addition, MCG is pushing for more graduate education of nurses. Its new Clinical Nurse Leader program allows those with other undergraduate degrees to get a master's degree in nursing.
"We did establish our philosophy that we see different roles for the different institutions in this area, but there will be overlapping also," said Lucy Marion, the dean of the MCG School of Nursing.
The school will continue its undergraduate baccalaureate program but supports Augusta State getting one "because we support the highest-educated nurse to meet the needs of this very complex health society," she said.
Overall, the University System of Georgia plans to increase nursing graduates from 1,900 last year to 2,700 by 2010. That means the state would be producing more than 3,000 new nurses a year.
"That's still not enough," Dr. Marion said.
The Georgia Hospital Association found in 2006 that 59 percent of the nurses in the state were over age 40 and 27 percent were older than 50. That means the state will need at least 8,000 more nurses by 2012, according to the Nursing Education Task of the University System of Georgia.
That's why University is supporting all of these efforts, said Marilyn Bowcutt, the vice president for patient care services.
"We know that we have to start getting more people in the pipeline in order to replace the retiring nurses, for the future," she said.
Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com.
Comments
When I went to Augusta Tech there was a 2-3 year wait to get in to the LPN course. The schools need to have more classes and also offer night classes for the people that work full time.
So long as nurses are not paid what they are worrth as health care specialists, there will be a shortage. Hospitals now also seem to be saving money by using LPNs who can not perform many nursing functions rather than nurses and the level of care for the patient is reduced.
Doesn't Augusta College have a 2 year program? WHy not increase the number of classes they offer!
jack, What do you think and LPN is??? They are a Licensed Pratical Nurse. Some LPNs even have 4 year degrees. I think what you were referring to are CNA, which is a 1 year degree for a Clinical Nursing Assistant. My son and daughter are nurses. My son and daughter both went to Aiken Technical School. My son has just finished a "bridge" course that allowed him to go to class on line while still working full time to get his RN Nurse Management Degree. Most LPNs perform everything that an RN does with the exception of administering drugs. You need to read up on this before you post.
Jack - what a silly post. LPNs ARE nurses! The students at Augusta Tech actually spend more time in clinical hands-on training than do RN students at many nursing schools. Nurses are being paid what they're worth, but hospitals are cutting corners by reducing the number of nurses on the floor, risking the health of patients everywhere. This is not the nurses' fault, this is the fault of those in charge of the bottom line where it's all about how much you can make, not how many can you save. I don't blame the nurses - who wants to single-handedly do the work of three or four nurses, run the risk of deteriorating patient health because you've only got so many hands and feet to do all that work AND put up with being pushed around as if you're nothing but a piece of meat delivering money to the administrator's door?
G.R.I.T.S and anyone else interested, as an LPN I have given medications, started IVs, drawn blood, given blood, given chemotherapy, performed CPR and taken excellent care of my patients just like an RN. I work at both University and MCG and can do pretty much anything that an RN can do. There are a few tasks that I perform that require an RN to sign behind me. The tasks that I am not allowed to do are not that I "can not" perform them, it is that hospital regulations stipulate that an RN has to do these very few tasks.
Did I mention that LPNs give the same patient care as an RN yet receive half the pay... The 2 year Associate Degree program at ASU does not include the 2 years of core education that is required to enter the RN program.
I love my job and my patients. If I didn't I wouldn't be there for this pay, trust me.
In response to Mr Elams comment that ATC has wanted to have a nursing program for years. Mr Elam it has had an LPN nursing program for at least 25 years that I persoanlly know of. Please don't discount all of my hard work for all these years. I graduated from Augusta Technical Schools LPN program and am proud of it.
well if you don't think nurses make enough you should be a EMT or Paramedic then yo will really go broke. Not to mention they have more responsibility than a nurse
I am a CNA at MCG, and I looking into going back to Augusta Tech for LPN. Although 2010 that is kinda long don't you think?
It is really hard to go because of finicial aid and my schedule. Makes it much more harder for us when we have barriers blocking us from being RN's. It only took me 10 weeks at school not a year. G.R.I.T.S.
Very well-written JRM8401. I am also an LPN at a local hospital in the Augusta area and I graduated from Augusta Technical College. We do the same job as an RN. The only thing we cannot do is be the "charge nurse" of the unit. But guess what? There have been numerous nights when the RN's have had to come to me to ask questions or just to ask for my nursing judgment. I have been asked by my superiors to help orient and train the new RN's to the unit. I have even been asked to work with the "charge RN" and assist with her duties because she was not as experienced as I am. And, yes, I'm doing all of this knowing that she is making double my pay. So to all the "jacks" out there who don't give us LPN's the credit we deserve...don't under-estimate us. The next time you are in the hospital, you will probably receive some of your best nursing care from an LPN.
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