4 minute read
Answering the Call — Again
UD’s RN Refresher gives returning nurses tools for new challenges
By Beth Miller
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Long before the crush of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals had a pre-existing condition. They were chronically short-staffed. Now, after waves of COVID patients, surges of viral variants and the departure of thousands of nurses from the front lines, some healthcare facilities have found themselves in a critical condition, with too few nurses to meet the ongoing demand for care.
The good news is there are thousands of former nurses who have answered that call-toduty bell before and many want to do it again.
The University of Delaware’s online RN Refresher Program is made for them. It gives experienced nurses who have been on hiatus the opportunity to refresh their knowledge and skills, learn the (new) ropes and re-enter practice. This program is for returners — those who left the field to raise a family, care for a loved one, serve with the military or pursue other opportunities and now realize they want to come back.
“Many are nurses who want to return to practice but their licenses have lapsed or others with active licenses who want to transition back into direct patient care, having practiced in nontraditional nursing settings,” said UD’s Diane Beatty, coordinator of UD’s program. “But they miss it. It’s a calling.”
More than 1,500 nurses have enrolled in UD’s program so far, including students from around the country and around the world.
Betsey Pierce of Phoenix, Maryland, is among them. She graduated from nursing school in 1992 and worked as a nurse for about nine years, with stops in pediatrics, a medical/surgical unit at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, a rural hospital in Zimbabwe, a “float pool” (filling in as needed) at a local hospital, hospice, a boarding school in Kenya and managing workmen’s compensation cases.
She stepped away from nursing when she and her husband started their family. As her kids neared college age, she started thinking about returning to work.
"What I love about nursing is that there are many different opportunities, and so much flexibility in choosing a work schedule,” she said. “I have enjoyed trying several different types of nursing, which have given me many diverse and interesting life experiences. I have also truly enjoyed nursing because the work is about caring for people, which makes the work so fulfilling."
UD RN Refresher graduate Betsey Pierce, RN, from Phoenix, MD is director of education for Avila Home Care.
A few years ago, a friend told her she had taken the UD program and recommended she consider it.
Pierce completed the program in 2021 and now works as director of education for Avila Home Care in Towson, Maryland.
“I loved the program,” she said. “I feel like they did an excellent job with every aspect.” For example, Pierce reported, “When I left nursing, we were still paper charting. We didn’t have the computer systems.” She learned about keeping electronic medical records during the clinical part of UD’s program. She was glad to refresh her skills and also to be able to think through some of the issues and challenges that nurses face today.
Offered by UD’s Division of Professional and Continuing Studies, the program is held three times a year, with a typical cohort of 25-30 students. With online, self-paced learning that allows students to take classes at any time of the day or night, the program accommodates students’ unique situations.
“I’ve had students who have taken this course, are hired by the same hospital where they completed their clinical rotation and later serve as a preceptor for our RN Refresher students,” Beatty said. “They have come full circle.”
