NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Community College President Dr. Carter File explained that the $3 million in Congressionally Directed Spending that U.S. Senator Jerry Moran announced last month at Hutchinson Regional Medical Center is just one piece of what they need to fulfill the vision for an expanded nursing program at HutchCC.
"There's really going to be three parts to this project," File said. "The first part is, we're renovating the second floor of the Peel Center, which is on 9th and Main. That will provide some simulation space and classrooms for our nursing program. We are also partnering with Hutchinson Regional Medical Center on their campus at the hospital. We're going to use their floor and we're going to provide the simulation equipment that will be available to not only college students, our nursing students, but also to their staff to do training. The final piece of the project is at Davis Hall. We're going to renovate and improve and open up some additional student space. All of this will be with the end result to add 20 spots to our current nursing programs."
They still have other needs that must be met to fulfill that goal.
"We have the authorization to do it right now through the Kansas Board of Nursing," File said. "What we don't have is the space. Always the biggest hurdle for us to get over in nursing is to find qualified faculty. What our accreditor would like is an M.S. in Nursing Education. That is not a common designation for most nurses. A lot of nurses do get Master's Degrees, but not the education track. The nursing faculty is not part of the grant. The grant is just for physical equipment and construction."
Because of the student to teacher ratio required by Kansas Board of Nursing Regulations, they can't have more students until they have more staff.
"We'll need at least one full-time instructor and probably a part-time clinical instructor," File said. "Plus, with the addition of all of the simulators, we're going to add probably 12 simulators, with the addition of those simulators, we'll probably need another faculty member to run those simulations and to help students learn through simulation."
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