12 minute read
Feature Story
LIVING AND LEARNING COMMUNITY
THE STRUGGLE IN NURSING
Ways We Are Working to Remedy the Situation
The past four years have created a nurse shortage on a scale never seen before in healthcare. Over 1 million nurses are desperately needed today in the United States. In Georgia, there is currently a 28,000 shortfall with a projected shortfall of 80,000 by 2030. Since 2015, nursing faculty has dropped by more than 66% in the United States. The problem is compounded by an aging population of active nurses, and an additional 500,000 retiring by 2022. Locally, Phoebe Putney Health System has 300 plus nurse positions available and a 1-year jump in contract nurse cost of $100 million.
To make things more complicated, every school in the country is desperately looking for nursing faculty to teach this influx of new nursing students created by the demand. Limited resources constrain how many students can be accepted into colleges nationwide and the ratio of instructor to students must be followed to meet established standards. To alleviate some of the strain created by the demand for new instructors, ratios were adjusted just recently. Nursing programs must have a faculty/student ratio of at least one full-time nursing faculty member for each twenty-five students enrolled in the nursing program. It was 1:20 before this change. This is according to Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Rule 419-8.03 Organization and Administration. Healthcare systems managed a COVID-19 pandemic crisis which strained even the best of situations and now face a new shortage of nurses as they move forward and respond to the healthcare needs of their communities. Partnering and thinking out of the box by investing in medical innovation and working with educational partners is a viable solution to approach this situation head-on.
Albany Technical College and Phoebe Putney Health System are creating a pioneering plan to remedy the nursing shortage crisis. A Living & Learning Community for nursing students, new graduates, and early career nursing professionals will be built.
This partnership, with an already established, successful nursing program at Albany Tech and a highly effective health system at Phoebe, will attract and retain top talent in the southwest Georgia healthcare community.
Phoebe and Albany Technical College announced in early July a transformative project to breathe new life into the former Albany High School building on North Jefferson Street, and dramatically expand the pipeline of new nurse graduates in the region.
“We are going to create a living and learning community that will continue the historic location’s legacy as a place of education and allow Albany Technical College to quadruple the size of its nursing program,” said Scott Steiner, Phoebe Putney Health System President & CEO.
The project will include new construction in the same footprint as the old school, directly across the street from Phoebe’s main hospital. The 47,000-square-foot first floor will be home to ATC’s nursing program. It will include telehealth-enhanced classrooms, a health career education center, meeting rooms, a library/resource center, and other amenities. In addition to students seeking an associate of nursing degree, students in ATC’s accelerated nurse aide, phlebotomy, and practical nursing programs will also take classes there. The second and third floors of the building will include 80 apartments to provide affordable housing for nursing students.
“Before his recent passing, our president, Dr. Anthony Parker, spent the better part of a year planning for and spearheading this project. He believed it would revolutionize Albany Tech’s ability to train nurses and other health professionals and have an enormous positive impact on our community and our region’s economy,” said Emmett Griswold, Ed.D., Albany Technical College Interim President. “This project will be one of Dr. Parker’s enduring legacies, and we hope the community will support our effort to move forward with it in his honor,” Dr. Griswold added.
As part of the project, Phoebe is boosting its investment in ATC’s nursing program, allowing the school to hire more faculty so it can accept more students. “This year, we had 54 students in our associate of nursing program. We will increase that number to 200 by the fall of 2024. That is an aggressive goal, but it is one we can meet,” Dr. Griswold said. “Right now, more students are interested in our nursing program than we can accept because we do not have enough qualified instructors or classroom space. This enhanced partnership with Phoebe will change that.”
That partnership will not impact Phoebe’s investments with other regional colleges. “We have many outstanding education partners, and we will continue to look for ways to enhance those affiliations. Over the last few years, Phoebe has hired 85% of nursing graduates from Albany Tech – far more than any other school – so helping their program grow will have the most immediate impact as we work to address the nursing shortage in multiple ways,” said Tracy Suber, Ed.D., Phoebe Vice President for Education.
Phoebe will pay the entire cost of the $40 million construction project. Steiner said that significant investment is wise and necessary and will pay off quickly. “Even before the pandemic, the amount we were paying for contract nurses was unsustainable, and COVID made that problem exponentially worse for Phoebe and every other hospital in the country,” Steiner said. By increasing the available pipeline of nurses, if Phoebe can shift at least 125 contract nurse positions to full-time employed nurses, the project will pay for itself in one year. “We appreciate the fine travel nurses who choose to come to our community for a few months at a time, but we want more nurses who will buy houses and join churches and call this place home. It’s good for our community. It’s good for people looking for meaningful careers in southwest Georgia. Also, it will allow Phoebe to take some of the money we’re currently sending to contract staffing agencies and keep it here to invest in enhanced healthcare services for the people we serve,” Steiner said.
The project will preserve the entrance to the old school, return the original look of some of the windows that were covered over the decades, and include many architectural elements of the building. “Construction experts have told us the cost to renovate and preserve the entire building would be about three times the cost of our project, and that would not allow us to add a third floor and create a building that meets the needs of Phoebe, Albany Tech and our community,” Steiner said.
He stressed that the builders would save original materials and utilize elements of the building as much as possible. “We understand the school building is important to many people in our community. To ensure we respect the history of the site, we consulted with a group of more than 20 former students and hosted a listening session with them. They are excited about the project and overwhelmingly support it,” Steiner said.
The plans include an area at the main entrance highlighting the history of the building, which served as Albany High School from 1925-1953, Albany Junior High School until the mid-80s, and Albany Middle School until 2000. In 2002, the Dougherty County School System deeded the property to Phoebe, which created an education center and an employee wellness center on part of the property. Phoebe and ATC leaders presented their living and learning community plan to the Albany-Dougherty Historic Preservation Commission (HPC). They say the project on the busy Jefferson Street corridor will tie in nicely with downtown redevelopment efforts and encourage other business development in the area.
“We look forward to working with community leaders to move this project forward quickly. In order to move our nursing program into this stateof-the-art new facility by the fall of 2024, the project’s first floor must be complete for accreditors to survey and approve by January 2024. We’re on a tight timeline, but we can get it done,” Dr. Griswold said. “This truly is an amazing and unique project that will have so many benefits for our community, and we’re ready to get started.”
Healthcare Program Enrollment Growth
Program Growth to Help Meet the Need of our Community
100%
ASN Pass Rate
The Living & Learning Community project was presented to the HPC board July 12th and was rejected in a 4-3 vote. Phoebe and Albany Tech moved forward and appealed the decision and brought the project to the City of Albany in an August 16th meeting in downtown Albany. The city commission overturned the decision of the HPC.
Construction on the Phoebe and Albany Technical College Living and Learning Community is on hold. The Historic Preservation Commission filed an appeal in the Dougherty County Superior Court. The project will be on pause until a superior judge makes a ruling.
STUDENTS LEARN STEM THROUGH AN INNOVATIVE MOBILE LAB
It was the late President Dr. Parker's inspiration and objective that Albany Technical College should go back to school. Yes, elementary, middle, and high schools, albeit for public relations and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) training. Recently you may have seen the Albany Technical College's mobile STEM lab on the road en route to elementary, middle, and high schools. During the last two months, Albany Technical College faculty took the Mobile STEM lab to local schools, including Terrell Academy, Lee County Middle, Lee County Elementary, and Turner Job Corps. have already participated in hands-on activities in the Mobile STEM lab.
Under the guidance of the Electrical Engineering program Chairperson, Dr. LaQuata Sumter, FAA Certified in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, students guided unmanned aerial vehicles (aka drones.) This exercise also demonstrated to students career pathways to operate Unmanned Aircraft Systems commercially. Students could fly the drones through mazes and land at specific and designated landing sites. Flying drones require good hand-eye coordination. Students have a better understanding of their surroundings as they pilot a drone and learn how to make decisions about takeoff, flying, and landing safely. This promotes innovative and original thinking skills, augmented with problem-solving and prioritization talents.
After the Unmanned Aircraft Systems exercise, students had an opportunity to build a realworld electronics circuit under the guidance of an Albany Technical College Electronics instructor. The students created an LED circuit on a standard electronics laboratory breadboard using a modified power supply (a 9V battery). Lighting up the 10mm Super Bright LED and building one's electronic circuit was an enjoyable experience while learning all four aspects of STEM; Science as in the scientific aspect of semiconductors; Technology as in the application of the science, i.e., semiconductors as a light; Engineering as in figuring out the optimal circuit, and Mathematics as in calculating the resistance needed to energize the LED safely. Next, the students modified the circuit and controlled the LED with a push button switch. The students used a Fluke 117 Electrician's True RMS Multimeter to evaluate circuit parameters.
While "Learning STEM by Stealth" is an academic subject at Albany Technical College, we put into practice the joy of STEM, minimizing barriers to education.
Students had such a good time that they often didn't realize they were learning!
According to Ms. Yolanda Robinson, Public Relations Coordinator for the Lee County System, "Our students were greatly impacted by the STEM Lab bus which visited several of our campuses during May. Dr. Sumter taught Lee County students about engineering, problemsolving, and operating drones (unmanned aerial systems/vehicles) before allowing them to test the drones themselves. They also learned the basics of electronics before giving them handson experience building an electronic circuit. What a wonderful way to learn!"
STEM jobs, enterprise skills, soft skills, and 21st century skills are the most in-demand skills for our future workforce. Because of the ability to create real-world situations with drones and electronic circuits, students can work together as they would in a future job.
We are implementing the late President Dr. Parker's inspiration and objective that Albany Technical College should go to the community for public relations and training.
Albany Technical College's mobile STEM lab brings a one-of-a-kind, high-tech learning experience which exposes students to the in-demand STEM careers of the 21st century by surpassing subjects and equipment they may not have access to in their regular classrooms, especially science and engineering classes.
WELDING & JOINING TECHNOLOGY REFRESH
Albany Technical College held a Program Spotlight presentation for the Welding and Joining Technology program on July 27. Program Spotlights are reminders to the community of the many programs offered at Albany Tech.
Speakers included Lisa Harrell, Dean of the Construction, Manufacturing, Transportation and Engineering Division; Interim ATC President Emmett Griswold; Mark Benton, ATC Welding & Joining Chair/Instructor; Makayla Henry, a 2016 ATC W&J Diploma graduate and currently employed as a welder with Equinox Chemicals, Albany, Georgia; and Mark Grimaldi, CEO of Equinox Chemicals.
"According to the American Welding Society, the welding shortage will reach 400,000 workers by 2024. Older welders are reaching retirement age, and younger welders aren't replacing them fast enough. I read that the average age of a welder is 55, and fewer than 20 percent are under the age of 35. Hence, the job outlook for the welding profession is promising in the next few years," says Mark Benton, Albany Technical College Welding and Joining Technology Instructor. "Robots perform many applications, including welding, and there is an interest in looking into bringing this training to our classroom locally, says Lisa Harrell, Dean of Academic Affairs and Albany Technical College. Many companies are looking at robotics welding (Automated Welding) as a means for increased production using automated, programmable systems that weld and handle the products. "We will be exploring this technology soon and any grant opportunities to make this kind of training a reality right here in southwest Georgia," stated Harrell.
Currently, Welding and Joining classes are offered on a flexible schedule, day and night, to accommodate many students working day jobs. The program is offered at the main ATC campus. Students can begin the program each fall and spring semesters.
Career opportunities may include MIG Welder (Gas Metal Arc Welder – GMAW), TIG Welder (Gas Tungsten Arc Welder – GTAW), Flux Cored Arc Welder (FCAW), Stick Welder (Shielded Metal Arc Welder – SMAW), Combination Welder or Welder's Helper.
For more information about the Welding and Joining Technology program, contact Mark Benton at 229.430.3530 or dbenton@albanytech.edu.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
about the Welding & Joining Technology program, contact Mark Benton. Email: dbenton@albanytech.edu Phone: 229.430.3530
