Local Universities Train Tomorrow’s Top Caregivers
Published Jun 27, 2008
Southern University at Shreveport School of Nursing Assistant Professor Cheryl D. Blackshire instructs students in a lab.
As the demand for health-care professionals booms nationwide, universities in Northwest Louisiana have geared up to answer the call for nurses. In fact, Norann Planchock, dean of the College of Nursing at Northwestern State University, says the shortage “is not as tough” in this region, thanks to the concerted efforts of the area’s nursing schools.
“I think one of the things we do particularly well is work within the community to meet the need,” Planchock says.
Studies estimate that America’s need for nurses by 2020 could be as high as 750,000, a result of aging nurses retiring and not enough experienced nurses to serve as faculty at schools, causing a backlog of college applicants. A lack of interested students is no longer a problem, as young people recognize the advantages of pursuing careers in the field.
With nursing campuses in Shreveport, Natchitoches, Alexandria and Leesville, NSU is the only area university that offers a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in nursing. NSU also offers an associate degree, which, in addition to the bachelor’s, qualifies the degree holder to take the licensing exam necessary to be a registered nurse.
“Those pursuing a bachelor’s degree usually are the more traditional students, while students working toward an associate degree may be older or second-career students,” she says.
Louisiana State University-Shreveport offers a pre-nursing program that specifically prepares students for the professional nursing curriculum at either NSU or LSU Medical Center School of Nursing in New Orleans.
Louisiana Tech University’s Division of Nursing in Ruston also offers an associate degree program and produces graduates that are actively recruited by hospitals throughout the region, says Pamela Moore, director.
EMPLOYMENT OPTIONS ABOUND
The local employment options are plentiful: Northwest Louisiana is home to two major health-care networks – Willis-Knighton Health System and CHRISTUS Schumpert Health System – in addition to the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Overton Brooks VA Medical Center, Minden Medical Center and the first Shriner’s Hospital in the country, Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Shreveport.
“The majority of our graduates have job commitments by the time that they graduate, and the job placement within three of months of graduation is 100 percent,” Moore says.
Another option for associate-degree-in-nursing candidates is Southern University at Shreveport, which admitted its first class of nursing students in January 2005 “to open the door to the profession for those to whom that door has been closed in the past,” explains Sandra Tucker, dean of SUSLA School of Nursing. “Probably 95 percent of our students come from depressed backgrounds, so they may not have been admissible to other programs.”
Thus the school takes “extra care,” and students are included in organized tutorials, she adds. The strategy is working. Southern University’s nursing program is already one of the largest on campus, and 92 percent of its first graduating class passed the licensing exam on the first try.
Story by Sharon H. Fitzgerald
Photo by Todd Bennett
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