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Nursing program expands to Acworth
By Zack Bolien
In the last 10 years, the demand for trained nurses has far outweighed the supply. The Acworth campus of Georgia Highlands is ready to fill that demand with a recently opened nursing program. The program started Aug. 25 with an initial enrollment of 25 students and plans are for the program to expand to both freshman and sophomore students by next year. During the creation of the nursing program everything ran smooth and quickly, according to Dr. Vera Brock, assistant director of nursing at Acworth. “In the fall of 2005 GHC began talking about the possibilities of this effort to help serve potential nursing students along the I-75 corridor,” said Brock. “In early 2006 we had approval from the Board of Regents; March 16, we had approval from the Georgia Board of Nursing and by early summer 2006 we had approval by the National League of Nursing Accreditation Committee,” Brock said. Funding for the program comes from a partnership with Wellstar Health System. They also financially assist students in need. As for the classes themselves, Brock mentions that nursing students have a lot of obstacles to overcome and a lot of work to do before they can graduate. However, that doesn’t seem to lessen her optimism about the program. “The faculty believe that the nursing students are well prepared and making the adjustments well,” stated Brock. She went on to thank Dr. Randy Pierce, president of GHC, and Dr. Virginia Carson, vice president of academic affairs, for their support and for allowing the program to be offered. For nursing students in that area, the new program means no longer having to drive to distant schools for training. With the need for nurses larger than ever, the program shows no signs of anything but growth. |
