Now, TMCC needs to find nursing teachers

The $750,000 that Congressman Jim Gibbons delivered last week for fasttrack training of nurses in northern Nevada is just one of the first steps in the program.

Next up? Finding and hiring qualified faculty members, a task that's all the more difficult because the nationwide nursing shortage continues to keep nurses' pay above the levels they'll find in teaching positions.

But officials of three community colleges in the region are happy to have that problem after Gibbons brought word of the $750,000 grant from the U.S.

Department of Education for its fast-track program.

Nursing students in the fast track will complete an associate's nursing degree in 16 months compared to the two or three years needed to complete the prerequisites and requirements of a traditional associate's degree.

The students move quickly because they attend school year-round including summer breaks in an intense schedule.

The program will be sponsored by Truckee Meadows Community College, Carson City-based Western Nevada Community College and Elko-based Great Basin College.

Mary Love, acting director of nursing at TMCC, said the school is preparing to hire four additional faculty members for its nursing program and has been beating the bushes at conferences of nursing educators and elsewhere.

The faculty jobs start at about $41,000 for a teacher with a master's degree and 10 years of experience, and Love acknowledged that schools can't use pay to woo away nurses who are attracted by the higher pay they can receive at hospitals and elsewhere.

Instead, Love said, TMCC seeks to reach the hearts of potential nursing faculty.

"When you choose to teach, you choose to give back to your profession," she said.

The school's first fast-track group of 28 students will start classes in May.

Although that group is filled, TMCC is accepting applications for its next fasttrack group.

Dr.

Jowel Laguerre, TMCC's vice president for academic affairs, said the fast-track program is particularly useful for students who already have a bachelor's degree and want to switch careers.

In the summer of 2005, TMCC expects to launch a variant of the fasttrack program a fast-start for potential nurses who currently are in high school.

With that program, staff of TMCC and the Washoe County School Teachers will identify high school juniors who are interested in nursing and get them started while they're seniors in high school.

Along with additional faculty, the grant will pay for upgraded science and nursing labs, Love said.

And some of the money will provide stipends for fasttrack nursing students whose hectic schedules won't allow them to work parttime jobs to put themselves through school.

There's no shortage of TMCC students interested in pursuing nursing degrees, either in the fast-track or in a traditional program.

Love said about 700 TMCC students have declared their interest in nursing.

They can apply to the program after completing three core science courses.

The school has been instructed by the Nevada Legislature to enroll 72 students a year in its nursing program.

About 96 percent of the school's nursing graduates pass the national exam for registered nursing.

(Nationwide, the figure is about 86 percent.) As he delivered the $750,000 check, Gibbons said statistics starkly point up the need for

Nevada to move quickly to build its force of nurses in the state:

* The state ranks 50th in nurses per-capita.

* With population growth and aging demographics, the state needs more than 660 nurses a year; its schools graduate a total of less than 300 a year.

* More than half the nurses in the state are older than 46.

"Recruiting newly trained nurses here in the Silver State is absolutely critical to providing quality health care, now and in the future," the congressman said.