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2022 HEALTH CARE EDITION
Nursing degrees Midwestern State University at Flower Mound has seen an increase in Bachelor of Science degrees in nursing.
Staffing changes
Denton County’s Public Health Department director. Richardson reported in March to Denton County commissioners that county hospitals continue to see a sta ng shortage. Richardson refers to pandemic fatigue as a “hangover e ect,” he said. Though intensive care units are no longer full of COVID-19 patients, its nurses are still a ected by their recent patient losses and overtime hours. County Judge Andy Eads said he is in continual contact with county hospital leaders, and they report a decline in the mental health of their nurses, which has attributed to the sta ng shortage. During the pandemic, doctors and nurses worked in extreme conditions, and they handled it with grace, pro- fessionalism and compassion, he said. “The nurses and doctors across Denton County were our frontline heroes,” he said. Because of the sta ng shortages, education e orts are in full swing to help ll in the gaps seen locally. In Flower Mound, one college program looks to alleviate some of the indus- try sta ng stresses with an acceler- ated Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. Nursing solution Midwestern State University at Flower Mound is doing its part in sup- plying nurses by providing an acceler- ated bachelor’s degree in nursing. The program allows students to attend a community college to earn an associate degree in nursing while simultaneously attending MSU bach- elor’s degree classes. This allows the student to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in half the typical time, Pro- gram Coordinator Christy Bowen said. An associate degree is focused on the clinical tasks that a nurse pro- vides, such as monitoring patients, maintaining their records and per- forming other basic health care procedures. A bachelor’s degree incorporates other aspects of nurs- ing, such as evidence-based practice, management and public health. The program is creating nurses that are more quali ed in a shorter amount of time, Bowen said. “We’re sending nurses into the workforce to help with the downfall of the nursing shortage,” Bowen said. The program now has about 400 students, Bowen said. “Over the years, our program has
70*
Medical City Lewisville saw a decrease in overall sta in 2020 and it continues to regain prepandemic sta ng levels.
Spring semester Summer semester Fall semester
2018
770
56*
50
47
2019
772
37
2020
768
27 27
23
2021
774
14
12
11 13
2022
773
0
700
720
740
760
780
2020
2021
2022
2019
Overall sta
Programs in nursing *PROJECTED NUMBERS SOURCE: MIDWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
SOURCE: MEDICAL CITY LEWISVILLE COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Program features
There are several certi cations and degrees that can be obtained to create a variety of job opportunities in the nursing eld.
Midwestern State University allows students to graduate with their associate degree in nursing while simultaneously working toward their bachelor’s degree.
POST HIGH SCHOOL CERTIFICATION • licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses • medical assistants HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA OR EQUIVALENT
• medical records and health information technicians • nursing assistants
YEAR ROUND Courses o ered
27 credit hours
ASSOCIATE DEGREE • pharmacy technicians
Degree o erings can be completed in
• medical clinical laboratory technologists and technicians
• radiologic technologists • respiratory therapists
THREE SEMESTERS
Accredited by the
BACHELOR’S DEGREE • registered nurses MASTER’S DEGREE
COMMISSION ON COLLEGIATE NURSING EDUCATION
• mental health and substance abuse social workers
SOURCE: MIDWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
SOURCE: MIDWESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
reached for comment. Medical City Lewisville saw a dip in sta ng numbers in 2020 of about .51%. Medical City Healthcare is working to address the nursing shortage in multiple ways. It recently saw a signif- icant increase in hiring new graduate nurses coupled with nurse residency programs, St. James said. “[Medical City] Healthcare’s parent company, HCA Healthcare, hires more new graduate nurses than any other health care provider in the U.S.,” St. James said. Hospital o cials even look to students before they get to college to help ll the nursing shortages through encouraging students to get into Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P TECH) health care career tracks. Earlier this year, Medical City
drastically increased in size,” she said. “I feel this is a phenomenal achievement.” Bowen serves on the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council and has heard positive feedback on the quality of nurses leaving the program, she said. “[They are] so thankful for the new registered nurse graduates that are already more competent and higher educated,” she said. Looking locally Medical City Lewisville, Lewis- ville’s local hospital, tried to be pro- active in hiring nurses to replace the outgoing workforce, said Janet St. James, assistant vice president of public relations and media communi- cations, in an email. Texas Health Presbyterian Hos- pital Flower Mound is another local provider, but o cials could not be
Healthcare announced that the HCA Healthcare Foundation, through its Healthier Tomorrow Fund, donated $1.35 million to be disbursed over the next three years to Educate Texas, an initiative of the Communities Foun- dation of Texas, St. James said. The grant is aimed at increasing stu- dent access to programs that enable ful lling health care careers, includ- ing high schools in Texas that o er health care tracks, she said. “Our nursing leaders in our hos- pitals speak to students at the high school level—and sometimes earlier— about careers in nursing and health care, to create initial information and establish an early positive role model,” St. James said.
For more information, visit communityimpact.com .
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LEWISVILLE FLOWER MOUND HIGHLAND VILLAGE EDITION • JUNE 2022
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