Stephen F. Austin State University

Stephen F. Austin State University’s School of Nursing recently received a two-year grant of $265,970 from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to help in the effort to address the shortage of nurses. Four area hospitals have joined forces with the university to develop a strong nursing workforce for the East Texas area.

“According to the Texas Hospital Association, there will be a shortage of 27,000 registered nurses in the state by 2010,” said Bryant Krenek, CEO of Memorial Health Systems of East Texas. “This cohesive effort to increase nursing graduates is vitally important to our hospitals and the patients we serve.”

In addition to Memorial Health Systems, Nacogdoches Medical Center, Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital and Woodland Heights Medical Center are contributing partners in the nursing project.

Funding from the coordinating board will be used to identify, develop and share resources with partnering programs to maximize both student enrollment and graduation rates for students in initial registered nurse licensure programs. SFA will serve as the lead agency for the partnership, known as the Region 4 Nursing Education Consortium, which includes Angelina College, Kilgore College, Northeast Texas Community College, Panola College, Texarkana College, Trinity Valley Community College, Tyler Junior College, and the University of Texas at Tyler.

According to a recent coordinating board study, the on-time graduation rate for nursing students in Texas is 56 percent.

“Almost three of every 10 students who register in a nursing program do not complete it,” said Dr. Glenda Walker, director of the project and director of the School of Nursing at SFA. “With 1,336 students entering the East Texas nursing programs each year, approximately 588 students are currently identified as needing help in successfully completing the program.”

The grant focuses on factors that affect students’ successful completion of the nursing programs. It will help provide students with Web-based modules that address common struggles with factors including family issues, time management, stress, and conflict management. The technology allows for interactive Web-based discussions.

“The program will develop a model of best practices, information sharing and intervention that ensures all students have the support they need to graduate,” Walker said. “Nursing programs historically focus on grade-point average while marginally addressing other factors, including family support and financial need. This grant is unique in its utilization of computer technology to help students successfully negotiate the nursing curriculum and test taking.”

Walker said this is the first time this many nursing programs and hospitals in East Texas have joined together to work on academic and environmental issues that impact the nursing students and their program completion. The hospitals participating in the program will work to place students in financial need in work-study programs, tuition pay plans and scholarship programs.

“We are pleased to contribute to addressing the critical nursing shortage in the area and proud to support these deserving students,” said Lance Jones, CEO of Woodland Heights Medical Center.

According to the project leaders, one of the major environmental issues for nursing students is financial need.

“Nacogdoches Medical Center understands the financial difficulties experienced by students in all fields, but we have an acute awareness of the needs of nursing students,” said Gary Stokes, CEO of Nacogdoches Medical Center. “We provide another level of support through our tuition payment programs and the endowed scholarships offered by our hospital auxiliary.”

Walker said the goal of the NEC4 partnership is to increase the graduation rate of all the nursing programs in East Texas and in doing so, develop a model that can be used by other nursing programs across the state.

Several SFA offices will support the project, including Piney Woods AHEC, the Statistical Consulting Center, Department of Counseling, and Office of Instructional Technology.

For more information on the grant, contact Tami Putnam, network project coordinator at Piney Woods Area Health Education Center, at (936) 468-6936.