A ribbon cutting was held at Huron Community Campus today to celebrate the kick-off of the first semester of Huron’s new associate of applied science degree in nursing.
The program is a collaboration between HRMC Foundation, Southeast Technical Institute, Huron University Foundation, Huron Community Campus (HCC) and several other partners in the region.
The seven students enrolled in the LPN-RN program, their sponsors, community partners and Huron Chamber Ambassadors celebrated with a ribbon cutting on the stage at HCC.
Paul Rann, Executive Director of the HRMC Foundation, said the program was the vision of the Huron Nursing Task Force.
That vision began in 2016 when Huron learned it would lose its two-year nursing education program which had provided registered nursing candidates to healthcare facilities in the region. In January 2015, a group of concerned community members came together to form the Huron Nursing Taskforce and quickly set about finding ways to provide local nursing education to students in the Huron area.
Marilyn Hoyt, HU Foundation board member, and Huron Nursing Taskforce member, said the program continues the community’s longstanding tradition of training nurses.
Southeast Technical Institute agreed to expand their program to Huron and the South Dakota Board of Nursing approved the satellite location last November. The LPN-RN program is for licensed practical nurses (LPN) with 750 hours of experience who wish to earn their associate registered nurse degree. The 12-month hybrid program includes online classes through Southeast Tech along with lab and clinicals at HCC and local healthcare facilities.
In addition to work experience, LPN candidates need to complete five pre-requisite courses. To accommodate working LPNs with families, providing courses locally and affordably was key.
Kristin Possehl, RN, MSN, MEd, Southeast Tech Nursing Program Director said many people wouldn’t be able to enter the nursing program without this track.
Pre-requisite classes began at HCC in January and will continue to be offered as part of the regular class schedule.
Another big break came in January when South Dakota’s Build Dakota extended scholarships to registered nursing education – for the first time since the program’s inception. Southeast Tech committed up to sixteen Build Dakota scholarships and several local and area businesses then stepped up to match the funds providing full-ride scholarships to their employees in return for a three-year work commitment.
“In addition to making the program affordable for students, we wanted to ensure that this program will be available to students into the future,” explained Rann. “We’ve made a commitment to fund the program for the first three years until there is a supply of students who can make the program self-sustaining. This has been made possible by the generosity of the Huron Community Foundation, Greater Huron Development Corporation, United Way Heartland Region, Sunquest Healthcare Center, HCC, HU Foundation, HRMC and HRMC Foundation donors.”
(HRMC)