Jefferson College has received a $275,900 grant from the Missouri State Board of Nursing and will use part of it to create a position to help make the transition from high school to college easier for those seeking nursing careers.
The college also will use some of the grant money to renovate its nursing program facilities.
Jefferson College was one of 11 state colleges and universities to receive one of the grants to benefit nursing education programs and develop solutions to promote nursing as a career and help alleviate nationwide nursing shortages, according to the Missouri Governor’s Office.
The grants were announced earlier this fall.
“The nursing shortage is pretty significant,” said Amy McDaniel, Jefferson College’s nursing program director. “Jefferson County, in medicine in general, is considered an underserved area.”
She said the college will create a Pathway in Nursing program for high school students looking to enter the Jefferson College Bi-Level Nursing Program.
McDaniel said the point of the position Jefferson College will create will be to align the courses high school students need to complete to enter Jefferson College’s nursing program.
“The grant specifically will be used, first of all, to hire a person to assist us with curriculum needed for the high school students entering into the ATS (Area Technical School) program and to create the pathway into the nursing program,” she said. “This is not something offered currently. So, by the time they graduate high school, they will have fulfilled all the prerequisites required for our program.”
She said the college is in the process of seeking a nursing program consultant and she hopes to have the position filled in January.
McDaniel said the college also will use the grant money to renovate its facilities to create a nursing faculty “hub” for the nursing program, which is offered at the Hillsboro campus.
“This is to improve our infrastructure on campus, the physical location, to integrate high school health services programs into our nursing program,” McDaniel said. “We will make renovations in our building to make it easier for high school students, as well as our faculty, to use the facility.
“I believe we’re looking at the summer of 2023 for the renovations.”
McDaniel said currently about 115 students are enrolled in the Jefferson College nursing program.
“If the program expands through the grant, we would be looking to increase that by about 30 students,” she said.
Alisyn Beffa, chief operating officer and chief nursing officer for Mercy Hospital Jefferson in Crystal City, said hospital officials are pleased to hear of the college’s grant as the hospital has been working with the college to promote nursing careers.
“In late 2019, we began working with Jefferson College on how we can create a pathway for those wanting to pursue a career in nursing,” Beffa said. “We knew the program must represent our community. Our passion was to develop something that sustained long beyond us and the pandemic. The grant allows us to come together in that vision to increase the number of classroom seats and experiences for the workforce of the future. This program opens doors for members of our community to obtain a nursing degree that is affordable with high quality experiences.”
Beffa cited statistics that show the state of Missouri had “a staff nurse vacancy of 12 percent” in 2021.
McDaniel said the college’s Pathway in Nursing program is under development.
“We’re excited to get the program up and running to give students a quality education at a community college price,” McDaniel said. “We want to get the position hired in January.
“We’re hoping for the program to be in place for the start of school in fall 2023.”