More seats equals more nurses!
As many of you know, healthcare facilities all over the country are in need of more qualified nurses. Many of you are probably experiencing a number of challenges from having a shortage in your facility! The number of retiring nurses is surpassing the number of graduate nurses entering the field, and the need for healthcare with a growing population is surpassing the number of nurses in the field. Did you know, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects there will be 175,900 openings for Professional Nurses (RN) each year until 2029. That’s promising, isn’t it?
As a college, we want to do our part in helping fill those positions, so we applied for an increased number of seats in our Professional Nursing (RN) program!
Our faculty and staff are so excited to give more people the opportunity to follow their dreams of becoming a nurse. For the last few years, we’ve reached capacity in the RN program and were unable to accept everyone that applied. “We never want to tell someone they have to hold off on their dream job, especially when they are so eager to take the next step in their education to helping others,” BTC President, Charlotte Gray said.
So, we’re thrilled to announce, the Missouri Board of Nursing has approved 31 additional seats for students in the RN program beginning in August 2022.
Even with more students, we wanted to keep the atmosphere at BTC the same as when you went through one of our programs. The small class sizes and personal feel will still be a priority, we just had to make a few adjustments to accommodate the additional students on campus.
Erin Mock, RN, MSN, Director of Nursing Education at BTC explained how that’s going to happen. “We won’t be losing our family-like atmosphere, just making the family a little bigger. All students in the program will be taking the same classes each semester. We plan on splitting the cohort into Group A and Group B with students switching classmates every semester. This plan will give students a diverse view on the material and allow them to collaborate with more nursing students throughout the entire program.” We’ve also converted space on campus that was previously utilized by Citizens Memorial Healthcare (CMH) to increase the number of classrooms and computer labs for our students. New offices are also opening for additional faculty. Plus, we purchased more Simulation and Skills Center equipment and added adjunct faculty to give all students the same one-on-one assistance we’re known for.
The additional seats will allow for a potential 62 nursing students to graduate every May, beginning in May 2024. That means more qualified nurses in facilities and more people living out their purpose 🥳️ Our admissions representative, Daniel Leith, said it well, “With the demand for nurses so high, it’s really a great time to become a nurse.The life-long job security and financial stability that comes with nursing truly changes lives. It’s inspiring to watch our students feel so fulfilled and we’re thrilled to help more people transform their lives through education and nursing.”
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