WSU, Butler hope for share of state money

BY ANDI ATWATER

The Wichita Eagle

Ichita State University and Butler Community College are vying for a chunk of $3.4 million in special grant money to be allocated next month to beef up the state's nursing school programs.

The schools already increased their ability to produce student nurses by expanding, but officials hope the state will share money with them anyway.

The money, approved by the Legislature last month, is part of the Kansas Board of Regents' 10-year, $30 million initiative to increase the capacity of programs to educate registered nurses in the state by 25 percent.

A Kansas Department of Labor study estimated Kansas will need 11,350 new registered nurses by 2010 to keep up with workforce demand plus open positions from retirements.

"We've done a very good job of recruiting individuals into nursing programs," said Blake Flanders, director of career and technical education for the Regents. "The problem has been an issue of program capacity. Our programs throughout the state have waiting lists without the ability to increase enrollment."

Almost 500 students were turned away from 12 Kansas baccalaureate nursing programs in the 2004-05 academic year, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing reported.

Even after increasing its enrollment for its January and fall classes by 50 percent this year, WSU still has a waiting list of 77 students, officials said.

The university will request money for scholarships and supplies, and for help with adding 40 students a year indefinitely, said Juanita Tate, chairwoman of WSU's School of Nursing and associate dean of the College of Health Professions.

"We have already committed to do this, and we should get some of that state money," Tate said. "Why should WSU be (overlooked) because we've already tried to figure out how to address the nursing shortage?"

The Legislature requested the nursing initiative accommodate up to 250 more nursing student admissions annually within the state's 22 public nursing programs.

Butler said it began addressing the shortage two years ago when it increased its nursing program by 33 percent, or 32 students, through online learning.

The program expansion amounts to about $115,000 more a year, including a full-time teacher the college wants to hire and additional equipment, such as a $30,000 simulator mannequin.

The first group of students from that program will graduate in December, and officials said the college shouldn't have to lose out on state grant money just because it took the lead.

"We certainly didn't wait for the state to respond to the call for more nurses," said Trish Hutchinson, dean of nursing and allied health. "For those of us that sort of led the way here, we're hoping they'll go ahead and help us out so we can carry on."

Regents, nursing associations and other stakeholders will review applications due June 30 and make a decision by July 14. State officials aren't saying whether they'll approve funding to schools that already have taken steps to address the nursing shortage.

"We want to work with anyone that wants to increase the production of registered nurses or of faculty," Flanders said. "That's the goal of this program, and we will have a fair and equitable process to distribute these funds."

Wichita hospitals, where officials agree they could use an average of 100 additional registered nurses at any given time, are behind the effort as well.

Hospital systems do their part by allowing student nurses to gain experience through clinical work and by often donating money to put nursing students through school, usually in exchange for a work commitment upon graduation.

"We're the single largest employer of nurses in the area, so we're always concerned about the community's ability to educate nurses to meet the demand of the future," said Larry Schumacher, president and chief executive officer of Via Christi Wichita Health Network.

The network employs more than 1,550 nurses.

"Finding faculty is tremendous. It takes a lot of effort, and it's very, very competitive right now," he said. "Certainly we're going to continue to work from a public policy standpoint with the colleges and universities in the area to make sure there are adequate numbers of people in the programs."

Original source at http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/business/14811490.htm