Senators John Pat Fanning, D-McDowell, and Anita Skeens Caldwell,
D-Mercer, brought the lack of nurses to the attention of the Chamber
Legislative Breakfast Thursday. They predicted the local area will be
affected because of its expanding medical programs.
The education bill approved by the legislature last year places
Bluefield State College in charge of establishing the New River Technical
School in Beckley and carries the possibility that the college's highly
reputable nursing school could be moved.
Caldwell said, "There were a couple of good results" from the
compromise bill, but there are reports an effort may be made to move the
nursing program from Bluefield State College to Beckley at the new
technical school.
"We need to keep our nursing school in Bluefield," she said, noting
that if one is needed in Beckley it should be opened but not by
transferring the Bluefield school. The senator said it appears that if the
shortage is going to be solved, "we need one everywhere."
Caldwell said the concentration now should be to improve the local
nursing program, not move it.
Caldwell, a Bluefield High School teacher, said, "As the population
ages, we are going to need more nurses to take care of our people." She
also noted the addition of a heart center in Bluefield will increase the
demand for nurses.
Bluefield State College Community Relations Director Jim Nelson said
BSC currently offers an associate RN degree (two years) and a BSN degree
(four years) and has made arrangements for a master of science degree in
nursing thorough a collaborative agreement with Marshall University.
He said soon nurses from southern West Virginia can earn a master's
degree in nursing without leaving the region. Marshall and BSC have
entered into a collaborative agreement to deliver the MU master of science
in nursing degree, with an emphasis in nursing education and nursing
administration.
Nelson said the new program is consistent with the mission of Bluefield
State College and its BSN program, providing students with an affordable,
geographically accessible opportunity for public higher education.
He said area hospitals are supporting the BSC program and have
expressed the importance the nursing school plays in filling their nursing
positions.
"One of the biggest problems facing the state is the shortage of
nurses," Fanning said, reporting a shortfall of 7,000 nurses is projected
for 2008. The problem is not unique to West Virginia, nationally a
reduction in nursing school students and nurses on the job is growing.
"We have to prepare for this shortfall," Fanning said. He noted that
while the number of males enrolling in nursing programs is growing, many
women who formerly would have sought nursing careers are not turning to
positions as lawyers and physicians. He said during a recent visit by a
nursing class in West Virginia, of the 164 members of the class, 77 were
males.
