Spring Break
Nursing waiting list grows long
Few accepted to program
Bobby Harrell
Issue date: 1/31/06 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
It took Woodburn sophomore Tracy Jenkins five attempts to get into the nursing program at Western, even though she met the requirements four of those times.
But she knows people on their seventh bid to enter the program who still haven't succeeded.
The problem facing Jenkins and her peers is typical for aspiring nurses at Western.
Of the 147 students who applied for the program last fall, 88 qualified applicants were turned away, said Donna Blackburn, head of the nursing department at Western.
The nursing program is the most competitive department at Western, President Gary Ransdell said.
A national nursing shortage is driving an increase in admissions to nursing programs across the country, Blackburn said.
A lack of a nursing faculty is also to blame, and the program will only be able to expand after hiring more faculty to provide more clinical experience, she said.
Western's nursing program began in 1962.
The program must accept a low number of students because hospitals can only give clinical, or hands-on, experience to a few students at a time, Blackburn said. The nursing shortage contributes to the inability to allow more students to have hands-on learning.
In 2001, Western's nursing program began admitting 40 students a year. But about 80 students are now accepted each year, Blackburn said.
More than 400 students tried to apply to the nursing program and about 60 pre-licensed nurses graduated last year, she said.
Students seeking admission to the program must also have completed all their non-science prerequisites, received a C or above in their science classes and have a grade point average above 2.75, Blackburn said.
GPA is the primary factor when admitting students, but other factors such as health care experience are also taken into consideration.
"We hate to turn away qualified students," Blackburn said.
Jenkins applied for the associate nursing program twice and the bachelor of nursing program three times before being accepted. Jenkins said she had a low GPA when she originally tried to get into the program, but still sees the program as being extremely competitive.
She said several talks with Blackburn and Syliva Gaiko, associate dean for the College of Health and Human Services, was the only way she was accepted to the program.
Bowling Green senior Chris Thompson got into the program on his first try. He said he was accepted so easily because male students apply less frequently than female students and his GPA was 3.8.
Thompson said he's learning to be a nurse anesthetist because the job pays well and demand is high.
Other schools around Kentucky are also feeling the crunch of students applying to their nursing programs.
Northern Kentucky University has seen an increase in nursing admissions, said Sallie Parker Lotz, academic adviser for the School of Nursing and Health Professions at Northern.
Northern accepts about 100 students in both the fall and spring semesters, Lotz said. About 300 apply every semester, she said.
Blackburn said students who can't make it into Western's program the first time should take public health or related classes while they wait.
Henson said the program is doing all it can to bring more students to nursing, but they're still looking for the best solution to the admissions hike.
Ransdell said Western will allot more of the budget to the program and try to hire more faculty.
Jenkins said the opportunities she will have when she graduates make it worth waiting for entry into the nursing program.
"The doors are going to be wide open," Jenkins said.
Reach Bobby Harrell at news@wkuherald.com.
But she knows people on their seventh bid to enter the program who still haven't succeeded.
The problem facing Jenkins and her peers is typical for aspiring nurses at Western.
Of the 147 students who applied for the program last fall, 88 qualified applicants were turned away, said Donna Blackburn, head of the nursing department at Western.
The nursing program is the most competitive department at Western, President Gary Ransdell said.
A national nursing shortage is driving an increase in admissions to nursing programs across the country, Blackburn said.
A lack of a nursing faculty is also to blame, and the program will only be able to expand after hiring more faculty to provide more clinical experience, she said.
Western's nursing program began in 1962.
The program must accept a low number of students because hospitals can only give clinical, or hands-on, experience to a few students at a time, Blackburn said. The nursing shortage contributes to the inability to allow more students to have hands-on learning.
In 2001, Western's nursing program began admitting 40 students a year. But about 80 students are now accepted each year, Blackburn said.
More than 400 students tried to apply to the nursing program and about 60 pre-licensed nurses graduated last year, she said.
Students seeking admission to the program must also have completed all their non-science prerequisites, received a C or above in their science classes and have a grade point average above 2.75, Blackburn said.
GPA is the primary factor when admitting students, but other factors such as health care experience are also taken into consideration.
"We hate to turn away qualified students," Blackburn said.
Jenkins applied for the associate nursing program twice and the bachelor of nursing program three times before being accepted. Jenkins said she had a low GPA when she originally tried to get into the program, but still sees the program as being extremely competitive.
She said several talks with Blackburn and Syliva Gaiko, associate dean for the College of Health and Human Services, was the only way she was accepted to the program.
Bowling Green senior Chris Thompson got into the program on his first try. He said he was accepted so easily because male students apply less frequently than female students and his GPA was 3.8.
Thompson said he's learning to be a nurse anesthetist because the job pays well and demand is high.
Other schools around Kentucky are also feeling the crunch of students applying to their nursing programs.
Northern Kentucky University has seen an increase in nursing admissions, said Sallie Parker Lotz, academic adviser for the School of Nursing and Health Professions at Northern.
Northern accepts about 100 students in both the fall and spring semesters, Lotz said. About 300 apply every semester, she said.
Blackburn said students who can't make it into Western's program the first time should take public health or related classes while they wait.
Henson said the program is doing all it can to bring more students to nursing, but they're still looking for the best solution to the admissions hike.
Ransdell said Western will allot more of the budget to the program and try to hire more faculty.
Jenkins said the opportunities she will have when she graduates make it worth waiting for entry into the nursing program.
"The doors are going to be wide open," Jenkins said.
Reach Bobby Harrell at news@wkuherald.com.
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