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Pima Medical starts nurse training

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The Pima Medical Institute has launched a nursing program to help relieve a nurse shortage in the area.

The program, which has room for slightly more than 30 students, is currently accepting enrollment, said program director Jeannine Hayduk. Classes will begin Oct. 31, she said.

Students will take six semesters of courses to obtain an associate degree and become registered nurses after taking their licensure examination, Hayduk said.

The first class is expected to graduate around Nov. 1, 2010. The program will be located at 40 N. Swan Road, Suite 200, Hayduk said. Another class will begin during the summer of 2009.

Barbara McReynolds, University Medical Center's senior nurse recruiter, said demand for nurses at UMC is ongoing, and it will continue in coming years as the hospital expands.

"Anything that brings more nurses into the city is always welcome," she said.

UMC's intensive-care unit has a need for additional nurses, she said.

A study released earlier this year by the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association found that the number of registered nurses in Pima County exceeds the national average. But health officials said there's still a need for more nurses.

With many registered nurses reaching retirement age, the study says, Arizona will need about 49,000 new registered nurses by 2017.

Area hospitals have already teamed with other medical education institutions to cope with the shortage. The inaugural class of nursing students graduated Aug. 22 from Grand Canyon University's "fast track" program.

The students obtained a bachelor's of science in nursing after a rigorous 20-month program. They completed their clinical studies and on-site training at area hospitals.

The University of Arizona has a 14-month accelerated degree program and has contracts with three local companies: Tucson Medical Center, University Medical Center and Carondelet Health Network.

Pima Medical Institute's program is not an accelerated one, as most associate-degree programs take four semesters, Hayduk said. Students will take courses in microbiology, nursing fundamentals, growth and development and mathematics during the first semester.

The following five semesters will be geared toward nursing education in such areas as pediatric, maternity and surgical. The students will also get experience in local hospitals and clinics, she said.

Dale Berg, campus director for the Pima Medical Institute, said the need for nurses played directly into the decision to create the program.

"There's a shortage of nurses, and we have the capability to help reduce that shortage," Berg said.

The Pima Medical Institute is a private, family-owned, for-profit school that focuses on medical career education.

Graduates from the institute's nursing program will be able to pursue specialities in any field of nursing — from working in an acute-care setting to a private physician's office.