PRIMARY OBJECTIVE
South Carolina desperately needs more nurse practitioners, especially in rural areas. The College of Nursing is meeting the challenge.
Like a lot of patients at JACKIE BAER’S, '00 CGS, '17 DNP,
the work schedules of her patients — many of them hourly paid
health clinic on Johns Island, S.C., Bill* had limited
service industry employees who can’t afford to miss work during
financial means and a chronic health condition. Dr.
the day.
Baer, a family nurse practitioner, managed to lower
Dr. Baer’s patients definitely need her — and South Carolina
Bill’s blood sugar, but she arranged for him to see
desperately needs more dedicated nurse practitioners like her,
an endocrinologist to put the finishing touch on his
especially in rural and underserved communities where primary
diabetes management.
health care providers aren’t nearly as plentiful as in larger cities and
Imagine her shock when she saw Bill in her clinic weeks later
affluent suburbs. It’s estimated that the Palmetto State needs more
and his blood sugar level had spiked. “I was shocked — that
than 800 additional primary care providers in the next 10 years just
was the opposite of what I was expecting after sending him to a
to keep pace with the needs of its growing and aging population.
specialist,” says Dr. Baer. The mystery was quickly solved when
That’s why the College of Nursing is working on a solution that
Bill confided that he couldn’t afford the expensive medicine the
could provide a model for all of South Carolina and perhaps even
endocrinologist prescribed. Also, because he had no smartphone
the rest of the country where the coming shortage of primary care
or computer, Bill hadn’t done any virtual follow-ups. Dr. Baer called
providers also looms large.
the endocrinologist to explain the situation, suggested a cheaper
Funded with a grant from the federal Health Resources and
prescription and asked him to forget email and Skype, to simply
Services Administration, the college has partnered with the Eau
call Bill for follow-ups to keep him on track.
Claire Cooperative, the state’s largest federally qualified health
“So, problem solved, but it took some effort. It’s like that with a lot
center, to train a new wave of family nurse practitioners for
of my patients — they need advocacy,” she says. It’s why she works
underserved communities. This grant also aims to increase the
long hours and often stays open in the evenings to accommodate
diversity of the state's family nurse practitioner student population and workforce.
10/COLLEGE OF NURSING
