By Tim Horan
The Salina Journal
SALINA, Kan. —The state of Kansas is expected to need 200 new nurses per year for the next 10 years, and starting next fall the Salina Area Technical College will be offering a practical nursing program for up to 40 students to help meet that need.
Salina Tech President Greg Nichols said more than 50 applications have already been received for the program, which the college received final approval to launch last week. On Wednesday, the Kansas State Board of Nursing approved the plan, and on Friday approval was received from the Higher Learning Commission. The program had been approved by the Board of Regents Nov. 15.
Nichols said the college intends to take that entry level program one step further and is currently seeking approval to launch a registered nursing program in 2019.
Nichols described future demand for nurses as “tremendous,” adding that the Kansas Department of Labor projects that 90 new nurses a year will be needed for the next decade just to serve the needs of north central Kansas.
The college formed an advisory committee to study the addition of a nursing program not long after Nichols became president in 2016. At that time, Brown Mackie College, which had been graduating 60 new nurses a year, had recently announced it was shutting down.
Nichols said representatives of the health care community he contacted said a nursing program at Salina Tech was needed and emphasized it should be high quality.
“We committed to the highest quality program that we could have,” Nichols said.
He said health care is one of the preeminent services Salina provides, and staff are needed to fill Salina Regional Health Center jobs, as well as positions at clinics and long-term care facilities.
Program graduates will receive a Practical Nurse Technical Certificate that will allow them to apply as a Licensed Practical Nurse. He said including prerequisite classes, the LPN certification takes three semesters.
“This program is the entry level to the nursing profession,” he said. “Our plan is for it to expand the following year to the registered nursing program. We are already in the process. We have designed the plan. We have to go through the approval process.”
The new program at Salina Tech will be the only practical nursing program in Salina. Although the college’s Board of Trustees has yet to approve the tuition rate, total cost is expected to be between $13,000 and $14,000.
Kansas Wesleyan University and the University of Kansas School of Nursing offer four-year bachelor of science degrees in nursing.
The KU School of Nursing started its nursing program last summer. The program shares facilities with the KU School of Medicine. Dr. William Cathcart-Rake, dean of the Salina campus, said that 12 students are working toward a bachelor’s degree in nursing.
Kansas Wesleyan president Matt Thompson said there are seven students in the Kansas Wesleyan nursing program and 30 taking pre-nursing courses.
Thompson said there is a need for nursing—especially in the central part of the country.
“There is a huge tidal wave of retirements coming,” he said. “It’s what they refer to as the graying of the field.”
Salina Tech has been offering Certified Nurses Aide, Certified Medication Aide and Emergency Medical Technician programs for several years.
In May, the college hired Becky Claus as its first director of nursing, and she built the curriculum that gained approval. Claus had been director of nursing at Manhattan Area Technical College for 10 years.
Nursing classes will start in the fall of 2018, and students can begin the 14 hours of prerequisite classes in the spring. Prerequisites, which include intermediate or college algebra, medical terminology, human development, anatomy and physiology and a CNA licensing course, are offered at Salina Tech starting on Jan. 8.
Copyright 2017 The Salina Journal