New partnership expands nursing education in Georgia

New program tries to fight nursing shortage

Georgia is set to have one of the largest nursing shortages in the country by 2030. To stop that, Advent Health is partnering up to train more nurses and get them working in the state.

GEORGIA - AdventHealth and Georgia Northwestern Technical College are partnering to expand its nursing program.

What we know:

The healthcare provider is giving a nearly $830,000 donation to the school.

The funding, spread over five years, will allow the college to grow its Associate Degree Nursing Program and help address Georgia’s growing nursing shortage.

AdventHealth's support will enable the school to hire more faculty members and provide additional resources like computers to accommodate more students. Currently, the program enrolls 50 students, but plans are in place to expand that number to 85.

What they're saying:

"It just allows us to expand. It's difficult to grow a program where we're kind of limited on the number of students that we can bring in," said Heidi Popham, President of Georgia Northwestern Technical College.

The expansion comes at a crucial time. Georgia is projected to have one of the highest nursing shortages in the country by 2035, according to federal data.

"We have waiting lists for a lot of our healthcare programs, so this provides us the opportunity to allow additional students into the program," Popham added.

Health experts point to multiple factors behind the shortage, including an aging population and an increasing number of nurses leaving the field due to burnout.

"As you're seeing, the acuity of sickness across the country is really increasing with the baby boomers retiring, creating two issues seeing higher patient demand but at the same time, nurses leaving the workforce," said Isaac Sendros, president and CEO of AdventHealth Redmond.

A report from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing released this year cited stress and burnout as top reasons nurses are leaving the profession.

The college hopes the expansion will not only train more nurses but also encourage graduates to stay and work locally.

"Being able to provide opportunities for our citizens who live in our community to be able to go to school in our community and then work," Popham said.

"There's a beauty to when you're able to take care of those who took care of you. Ultimately, that's the ultimate pay it forward," Sendros said.

What's next:

The goal is to welcome the new nursing students by next fall.