Local Healthcare Facilities Recruit Nightingale College as a Means of Retaining Locally Grown Nurses

Healthcare employers show investment in local employment by promoting the need for homegrown registered nurses

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (July 13, 2016) – Local healthcare facilities have successfully recruited Nightingale College’s associate and bachelor’s degree nursing programs to help retain and promote homegrown registered nurses.

According to the Idaho Nursing Overview published in 2015 by the Idaho Department of Labor, Idaho will experience a 2.5 percent annual growth within the nursing profession. Although the report states that Idaho graduates plenty of nurses to meet the demand, only 60 percent of graduates remain in the state to work, leaving employers to recruit from other sections of Idaho and pursuing out-of-state candidates. Forward-thinking local healthcare employers have partnered with Nightingale College to provide an educational opportunity designed to expand the pool of locally grown and ready-to-work registered nurses. These healthcare employers investing in local education and employment are preparing their communities to support fully staffed and safe nursing units by reducing of the high turnover rate within the nursing profession and contributing to the increase in the number of qualified RN applicants in the area.

Nightingale College, a Utah-based nursing school, supports this growing need for nurses by bringing the associate and bachelor’s degree nursing education programs in-house to healthcare facilities. The College’s approach to supply nursing education through distance learning and local on-ground lab and clinical experiences allows healthcare partners the availability to continuously grow and maintain homegrown registered nurses.

“The unique struggles Partners located outside of urban centers face when it comes to having qualified, sufficient and effective nurses keep them from meeting the needs of their communities,” said Jill McCullough, DDC Coordinator for Nightingale College. “Our mission to help these facilities retain local nurses who are passionate about the community’s health and will drive positive health solutions forward. It is fulfilling for us to join together with our Partners in pursuit of such a cause.”

Nightingale College continues enrollment for the next open semester in August 2016 with the help and partnership of local facilities Desert View Care Center, Lincoln County Care Center, Mini-Cassia Care Center, Oak Creek Rehabilitation, and Sawtooth Behavioral Health.