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PrintTulsa's nursing programs for preventative care
With a national nursing shortage looming, local universities are working to recruit and prepare students to fill the void.
The last few years have been particularly tough for new college graduates. Competition for jobs is high, and sometimes even securing a post-graduation internship is a victory.
So Deana Price, a nursing student at the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa Schusterman Center, considers herself lucky.
Graduating this month, she already has a job lined up at St. John Medical Center. St. John offered her a position in the intensive care step-down unit upon completion of her Bachelor of Science in nursing.
“Although I won’t be able to work as a nurse until I pass boards in June or July, I have a job lined up,” she says. “It’s great.”
And Price is not the only recent nursing graduate who is in high demand.
By 2025, there will be an estimated shortage of 250,000 registered nurses across the country as the need for health care increases with the aging of baby boomers. The projected shortage is already being felt in the Tulsa area, says Shelly Wells, assistant dean of the College of Nursing at OU-Tulsa.
To fill this void, several Green Country colleges and universities are preparing nursing students, especially in nearby rural communities.
Wells says existing nurses also are affected as a result of the shortage.
“With this economic downturn, I think what we’re seeing locally is part-time nurses going full time or picking up more shifts, and there are more nurses who are returning to the workforce after an absence,” Wells says.
Wells notes that although layoffs in the nursing profession are possible, they rarely occur.
“Nursing is 24/7,” she says. “We don’t shut down because of ice storms or holidays.”
But contrary to media portrayals of nurses in TV shows such as “Grey’s Anatomy” or “ER,” nurses do not just work in hospitals. They have options including school nursing, community health nursing and overseas mission work, Wells says.
Administrative and consulting opportunities are also available, as well as jobs in the local, state and national policy-development arenas.
“I don’t think a lot of people think about other opportunities available,” Wells says. The University of Oklahoma offers specialized programs, such as management and education, which focus on areas of nursing outside of bedside care for master’s and doctoral students.
That is one reason Stacy Seabolt says nursing is appealing. She graduated in April with an Associate of Applied Science degree in nursing from Oklahoma State University-Institute of Technology in Okmulgee.
“There are many fields in the nursing profession that interest me, and that is one of the wonderful things about being a registered nurse,” she says. “The only boundaries of what your experience can be are the limitations you put on yourself.
“Nursing is always evolving and changing, so I cannot say exactly what my specialty will be at this moment, but I am looking forward to a rewarding career,” she adds.
The OSU-IT program has a rural focus, says Jana Martin, the division chair for nursing and allied health sciences at the university. Students from rural communities with 50,000 or fewer residents receive a point in the admission criteria during the selection process, a move Martin says she believes is necessary to ensure nurses are available in all locations.
“There’s a nursing shortage across the U.S., but no one feels it more than in rural areas,” she says, noting that students from rural areas tend to return to their communities to work after graduation.
The classes at OSU-IT’s College of Nursing remain small, but because of the nursing shortage, the college will soon expand the number of students accepted. Currently, 17 to 20 people graduate once a year from the college. But Martin says that will change when the college moves to a dual enrollment, offering students the chance to be accepted two times a year. This will increase the number of graduates to about 60 per year.
The OU College of Nursing is also catering to rural areas by partnering with Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami. Students can complete a four-year degree and receive a Bachelor of Science in nursing degree from OU while remaining on NEO’s campus.
“We wanted the OU campus to go to them, as opposed to them coming to us,” Wells says.
How to become a nurse
A variety of degrees are available for nursing students. Here are a few:
A licensed practical nursing (LPN) program usually consists of one year of solely nursing classes taken at a hospital, vocational technical school or community college. Students must pass the Practical Nurse portion of the NCLEX, a licensing examination, to obtain the license.
An Associate of Science in nursing program is a two-year degree focusing on technical skills. Upon graduation, students can become a registered nurse after passing the NCLEX for registered nurses.
A four-year Bachelor of Science in nursing (BSN) degree is a requirement for many jobs, such as becoming a school nurse. In a BSN track, the first two years are spent fulfilling general education studies, while the last two years focus on nursing courses.
A Master of Science in nursing degree, normally 18 to 24 months in length, allows a nurse to specialize in a particular area.
A look at some of the local nursing programs in Green Country:
The University of Tulsa
Degrees offered: Bachelor of Science in nursing
The University of Oklahoma-Tulsa Schusterman Center
Degrees offered: Bachelor of Science in nursing, Master of Science in nursing, Ph.D. in nursing
Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology in Okmulgee
Degrees offered: Associate of Applied Science
Oral Roberts University
Degrees offered: Bachelor of Science in nursing
Tulsa Community College
Degrees offered: Associate of Science in nursing
