Partnership Creates a Pathway for Nurses to Graduate Debt Free

Embedded in the mission of the University of Pikeville is the commitment to prepare students for the future while creating intellectual, cultural and economic opportunities for Appalachia. This promise to not only the students who walk the halls, but the larger community at the foot of “the hill,” became the catalyst for UPIKE’s latest collaboration with one of the region’s largest employers.

RURAL HEALTH NURSING FELLOWSHIP

Eastern Kentucky, as well as the rest of the commonwealth, is experiencing a drastic nursing shortage, prompting Gov. Andy Beshear to declare a state of emergency. The executive order noted that Kentucky is operating at a 12 to 20 percent deficit in nursing staff, and the state is projected to need more than 16,000 additional nurses by 2024. A group of the state’s top healthcare leaders formed the Team Kentucky Nursing Advisory Committee to discuss solutions to the ongoing nursing shortage. As committee chair, UPIKE Provost Lori Werth, Ph.D., presented their findings to the governor’s office.

In an effort to help resolve the nursing shortage in the region, UPIKE teamed up with Pikeville Medical Center (PMC) in creating the Rural Health Nursing Fellowship, a new educational and employment opportunity for nursing students offering them a pathway to a career in healthcare. Students graduating with a two-year associate nursing degree from UPIKE are provided financial assistance to help offset the cost of their education by committing to work at PMC after becoming a licensed RN. There is currently no cap on the number of nursing students who can apply for the fellowship.

The collaboration between the university and the hospital came about because healthcare facilities in rural areas rely on local graduates to help fill nursing roles. PMC has more than 100 open positions and hopes to attract and retain highly-trained UPIKE graduates. The primary goal of the nursing fellowship is to help students interested in pursuing a career in nursing receive a quality education and have an opportunity for lucrative employment without incurring debt.

Dean of the College of Nursing and Human Services Karen Damron, Ph.D., RN, explained that an aging population and many older nurses retiring during the pandemic are contributing factors to the nursing shortage facing the nation.

“There are a large number of baby boomers who are aging and require care, and not as many people entering the profession due to a wider variety of career opportunities,” said Damron. “The pandemic also played a part in many older nurses taking retirement, adding to the need laid out in the data supplied by the governor’s office.”

The COVID-19 pandemic also sparked an uptick in travel nurses, where hospitals and other healthcare facilities hire nurses to temporarily fill positions at a much higher pay rate than staff nurses. Larger cities have incentivized nurses to travel to fill open RN positions, making it significantly more difficult for rural areas to recruit nurses. Hospitals in Central Appalachia depend on local graduates to enter their hiring pool of new nurses. UPIKE nursing graduates have a built-in connection to the area and can easily be hired in the region.

A SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

In late 2021, a signing event was held at the Elliott School of Nursing, where Gov. Beshear joined UPIKE President Burton J. Webb, Ph.D., and PMC President and Chief Executive Officer Donovan Blackburn to announce their partnership in the Rural Health Nursing Fellowship.

Webb believes the collaboration with PMC will significantly impact Kentuckyʼs nursing shortage and he is proud to invest in nursing students wishing to further their education at UPIKE.

“Pikeville Medical Center and the University of Pikeville have a long history of working together to solve the healthcare and educational challenges that face Eastern Kentucky and Central Appalachia,” said Webb. “This partnership is another example of our two organizations coming together to solve the nearly intractable problem of not enough nurses in the region. We believe that offering students a program that covers all of their tuition, room and board, and fees while they are in nursing school, provided they agree to work for PMC for a time, removes all of the financial barriers to becoming a nurse. Over the next several years, we expect this program to substantially solve the public health crisis stemming from an inadequate number of highly-trained, highly-skilled nursing professionals.”

Blackburn is optimistic about this new endeavor and is happy to offer these nursing fellows a career opportunity.

“Pikeville Medical Center is excited to enter into this collaboration with the University of Pikeville to offer an unprecedented level of financial assistance to our up-andcoming nurses,” said Blackburn. “UPIKE’s Elliott School of Nursing is known for producing excellent nurses, and we are thrilled to roll out this new fellowship program which gives new nurses the opportunity to enter the workforce with their educational debt taken care of. We want them to begin their nursing careers 100 percent focused on developing their nursing skills and establishing themselves as leaders in their field. This fellowship program is a win-win for UPIKE, Pikeville Medical Center and the nursing students who choose to join our amazing team after graduation.”

Gov. Beshear was delighted to see two of the areaʼs largest employers team up to create enriching opportunities for people in Eastern Kentucky.

“This program helps us address our nursing shortage by saying to prospective nurses, you’ll not only get training here, but you may also have a job waiting for you when you graduate,” said Gov. Beshear. “This is the kind of partnership we need more of across the commonwealth. These can be game-changers for young people, for industries, for communities and for all of Kentucky.”

STATE-OF-THE-ART LEARNING FACILITY

Apart from earning a degree with no financial barriers, another advantage to enrolling in UPIKE’s nursing program is the newly-renovated training spaces, including a state-of-the-art skills lab and simulation center. The initial $2 million construction investment has grown to nearly $4 million with the inclusion of equipment.

“No other school in the region has a simulation center like ours,” said Damron. “Students benefit from an enriched classroom experience that gives them simulated practice, even OB emergencies. In the clinical setting, students can only observe what nurses do, but in the simulation lab, students can initiate the actions needed to care for patients under supervision, by implementing what they have learned in theory.”

Various simulations are set up for students to experience throughout the semester, in which an instructor in the control room adjusts the parameters of simulated patients. Students take action to provide care according to what they have learned in the classroom and are later assessed on where they succeeded and what they need to improve.

“The preparedness of nurses has come so far with innovation and technology,” said Damron. “This allows us to train more confident nurses who are better prepared when experiencing situations with live patients.”

ESON has an advantage over other programs in the region because it exists within a four-year university, providing a complete college experience for students. Students also have the option to continue into the RN-BSN program after they become licensed.

Damron counts the well-prepared ESON faculty as another key component that sets the UPIKE nursing program apart from others in the region. All full-time instructors have their master’s degrees or higher. Lab Coordinator and Simulation Director Ashlie Newsome, MSN, RN, CHSE, is one of the few nationally-certified healthcare simulation educators in the state.

“Whatʼs so great about our simulation center is that it looks and functions just like a real hospital, with modern medical aesthetics, top-of-the-line patient simulators and innovative debriefing technology,” said Newsome. “After every simulation, the students always say that they feel more comfortable if they were put in that scenario in real life.”

HOW TO APPLY

ESON accepts students twice a year, with spring and fall admission deadlines being September 15 and February 15, respectively.

Students interested in the ESON or the Rural Health Nursing Fellowship can contact CNHS Administrative Assistant Jessica Williamson at JessicaWilliamson@upike.edu or (606) 218-5750 for more informationabout requirements and the necessary steps to apply.

By Amy Charles