Nursing program receives 1.2 million dollars in grants

By Haley Smith
[email protected]
Staff Writer

The Georgia Highlands College nursing program has recently received over one million dollars in grants intended to improve the program for students. According to Dana Davis, GHC relations officer, the nursing program in Rome has always been successful, but one problem that they seemed to have was that most of their students were from the Cobb, Bartow and Cherokee County areas.

To solve this problem, last year WellStar Health System Inc donated $300,000 to help start a satellite nursing program in Acworth through North Metro Technical College. WellStar also recently donated an extra $308,798 to the Acworth nursing program. This grant will help create a new program that will transfer licensed practical nurses and paramedics into their sophomore year of the registered nurse program.

Judy Taylor, GHC advancement officer, explained that this program will give these people who already have some experience in the medical field a chance to catch up with students who are already a year into the program. Taylor says that the program will prepare these LPNs and paramedics through an on-line bridge course during the spring and summer semesters.

Dr. Randy Pierce, president of Georgia Highlands College, explained that WellStar and other health systems are in a great need of registered nurses. Pierce said that WellStar has "really stepped up to the plate" to help increase the number of RNs. Another nursing grant was also given by the University System of Georgia.

This grant will present the nursing program with $189,036 yearly for the next three years to increase the number of nursing graduates by 40 students. Davis states that normally, nursing students start their two-year program once a year starting in the fall. Now the college will admit students twice a year, which will create two groups that will graduate together.

The first group will begin in the fall, continue in the spring and be off during the summer. The second group, which will consist of another 40 students, will begin in January and continue the program throughout the summer. The next year, both of the groups will finish their second year together and graduate in May. "Dr. Barbara Rees, director of nursing, and Dr. Virginia Carson, academic vice president, have done a great job making this program competitive. They have also done a great job contacting the sources that help," said Pierce.