Nevada colleges partner to bolster nursing workforce

Two higher education institutions in Nevada have joined forces to prepare a more qualified nursing workforce in the state and address an expected shortage of these professionals in 2020.

Nevada State College and Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno will admit its first group of students this fall into a collaborative nursing program. Under a new agreement between both schools, officials will encourage two-year nursing students to complete their four-year bachelor degrees, said Sherrilyn Coffman, interim dean of the Nevada State College School of Nursing.

The idea for the collaboration was born out of a 2010 report by the Institute of Medicine, Coffman said. According to the report, about 50 percent of nurses nationwide have completed their bachelor of science degrees in nursing.

In Nevada, only 42 percent of nurses had their four-year degrees, according to the report.

“We just have to get more nurses from the associate degrees to the bachelor’s degrees,” Coffman said. “We want to do it in a way that works and that makes it easier for the students.”

Nurses with a four-year degree provide a “higher level of nursing care,” she said. It also makes them more marketable for leadership roles.

Maria Sheehan, president of Truckee Meadows Community College, said officials at the community college always look at transfer as a goal for their students. The college has a business transfer program with the University of Nevada, Reno.

“For students to have an early connection to the four-year institutions and then all the barriers are removed from them taking that next step,” she said.

Community college officials chose Nevada State College for the nursing collaborative because of its capacity to take more students, Sheehan said. However, they are now working to establish a similar partnership with UNR as well.

Nursing students at Truckee Meadows Community College will be eligible to apply for provisional admission at Nevada State College after completing their first semester at the community college . After being admitted, students will be required to take at least one course at Nevada State College each year while working on their two-year degrees, Coffman said.

Students will also need to pass the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses before being offered full admission to the four-year institution, she said.

It is estimated that by 2020 there will a 30 percent shortage of registered nurses in Nevada, Sheehan said. A major contributing factor is that baby boomers are starting to retire, she said.

Nevada State College is hoping to begin a similar nursing transfer program with the College of Southern Nevada, Coffman said.

Contact Yesenia Amaro at yamaro@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0440.