Graduates from local accredited nursing schools in the area -- such as the two-year program at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College and the four-year program at South Carolina State University -- are proving their quality, officials say.

The problem lies in the fact there just aren't enough of them to meet the demand.

"The numbers show that not only is the need for nurses not being met in the area and around South Carolina, but also nationally," said Julia Yawn, Regional Medical Center chief nursing officer and interim vice president of patient services.

Yawn points out the shortage of registered nurses in the U.S. could reach 500,000 by 2025, with the demand expected to grow by two or three percent each year until then. Estimates are that 30,000 additional nurses should graduate annually to meet the nation's health care needs, which translates into a 30 percent expansion over the current number.

Overall, more than 40,000 qualified applicants are turned away from nursing programs due to an insufficient number of teachers, clinical sites, classrooms and other budget constraints, officials say.

One of the most successful associate (two-year) degree nursing programs in the state is at OCtech. Dean of Nursing Delura Knight said the program was the first of its kind in South Carolina and has been going strong for approximately 25 years.

"Prior to its closing, the old Orangeburg hospital had its own nurses training program," Knight said. "Many hospitals at that time were in the nurse education business. Not long after that closed, the program at OCtech began. We've grown in enrollment every year since and this year we accepted 100 students for the first time."

Knight says that the program has more innovations to attract nursing students, particularly at the secondary school level.

"The Health Cadet program catches interested students at the high school level and helps bring them along with the academic curriculum they will need," Knight said. "We also line them up with automatic admission into the nursing program."

Denmark Technical College Vice President for Institutional Research and Planning Dr. Jacqueline Skubal says 2007 was the first year of that institution's one-year practical nursing program.

"The faculty do tend to be difficult to find, but we have been lucky to find qualified people in our area," Skubal said. "A practical nurse works in just about every place a registered nurse does but their duties are slightly different, being less involved in administration and more in the clinical area."

"Our program is new and we were lucky to find nurses in the area that have been practicing in the different hospitals," she said. "The program is designed to accommodate 20 students because even though there is a need here, nursing training is expensive so we deal with only what we can handle. Out of our first class in August 2007, we graduated nine. " Most stayed in the region, she said.

The U.S. Department of Labor projects that the need for nurses in physician's offices will grown by 39 percent through 2016. Other growth areas for nurses during the same period will be: 39 percent for home health care services, 34 percent for medical outpatient care centers and the slowest growth rate will be in hospitals at 22 percent. However, Knight says she has heard the same predictions before.

"In response to reports years ago that there would be an increased need for nurses at home health and nursing care facilities, we began offering a community health curriculum," Knight said. "We also offer a service learning program during the summer where our nursing students work with the Council on Aging, migrant worker camps and youth programs, to name a few."

"I can't see where the need for nurses at hospitals will decrease for two reasons," she said. "First, the baby boomers are aging. The other reason is that there is a significant number of people in the Orangeburg area who suffer from chronic diseases like diabetes, renal failure and (kidney disease), which usually involves more hospitalization."

Knight pointed out that each year, approximately 25 graduates of the OCtech ADN program are employed at the RMC.

"We service our immediate area -- Calhoun, Orangeburg and Bamberg counties -- first," Knight said. "They are our first consideration. And most of our students are from this area, so many like to stay home to work."

"There has been some question about having ADN programs in South Carolina in recent years but the reality is the numbers are greater and the pass rate on the state board exams (for licensure) are better," she said. "In the last five years, the pass rate for our ADN graduates was 98.4 percent. Since 1992, it has been 96.5 percent."

RMC President and CEO Thomas Dandridge says that technology has changed health care, which has also changed the hospital's nursing needs.

"More hospital care is now done on an out-patient basis. That is now the nature of health care," Dandridge said. "Plus, the knowledge a nurse needs now is so much more than it used to be. They have to be technologically savvy, especially since electronic medical records have been introduced, and have a greater knowledge about available drugs."

Dandridge said, "There isn't as much of a shortage of nurses at local physician offices because as nurses get older, these opportunities offer them set and shorter hours, plus they are usually not dealing with the acutely ill patients one finds in a hospital environment."

Another issue connected with the nursing shortage is that of nurses "burning out" and leaving the profession, especially in hospitals where the hours are long and the work can be strenuous from a physical and emotional standpoint.

In order to combat burnout at the RMC, Yawn says she is working on improving the working environment by creating a nursing council in the next several months.

"Through this group, nurses will have a 'shared governance' that allows them to have a say in how they work," Yawn said. "They want an autonomous experience and to be able to share their expertise for sound, practical, effective patient care."

RMC Chief Operations Officer Lisa Goodlett said of the nurse's council, "We are excited about these changes because this allows the nurses to have more of a say in their profession and how patient care is handled at the RMC.

"This can also help with the burnout that many hospital nurses may experience because they feel they have something to contribute every day."

T&D Staff Writer Phil Sarata can be reached by e-mail at psarata@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5540. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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