West Virginia hospitals and schools are joining forces to fill open nursing positions, reports The Exponent Telegram.
Here are three things to know.
1. One way schools and hospitals are working to address the state's nursing shortage is through the licensed practical nurse program at Morgantown-based West Virginia Junior College. As part of the program, students receive experience in a long-term care setting and then in a hospital setting,Pam Wilson, medical director atWest Virginia Junior College, said in the report.
She added: "They also work with the board of education to do pediatrics with school nursing and with Highland-Clarksburg [Hospital] for some psych experience as well. The students do an externship where they get to pick where they want to study, and do that for their last term."
2. Also, Ms. Wilson told the publication, West Virginia Junior College has an advisory board that notifies the school of open nursing positions at healthcare organizations.
3. West Virginia Junior College isn't the only school in the state to establish nursing programs to address the shortage. Fairmont State University offers an LPN program and an associate degree in science for nursing, according to the report.
"[These programs are] for students who want to come back to school but can't quit their regular job," said Mary Sharon Boni, PhD, MSN, RN, dean of the school of nursing at Fairmont State University, according to the report. "They do class on the computer in the evenings and have two days of clinicals a month."
For more on this story, including how other West Virginia hospitals and schools are working to fill vacant nursing positions, read Victoria L. Cann's full report here.
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