As the new semester gets underway at Butler County Community College so does a new healthcare program.
The practical nursing program officially had its first classes yesterday with 10 students currently enrolled.
“The timing of the start of this program couldn’t be better,” Dr. Patty Annear, dean of BC3’s Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health said. “Right now we have a major nursing shortage and I believe that the practical nurse is going to start taking a little bit more of an active role at the bedside, and particularly in long-term-care nursing, where the shortages are the greatest.
The program is a partnership with Concordia, which set aside $10 million to help prepare graduates for licensure in what college officials say is “a high-priority occupation in Western PA.”
BC3 President Dr. Nick Neupauer says the launch of this program is “part of the college’s all-in for nursing. This program is so important, and very much needed with all that is going on in health care around us. We are looking forward to educating students for high-priority occupations.”
Practical nursing takes about 12 months of classes and also sets students up for an opportunity to pursue other nursing degrees.
Concordia is offering tuition sponsorship to BC3 practical nursing and registered nursing students who agree to work for the health care provider after graduation.
