State grant helps WKCTC tackle nurse shortage

A grant from the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education Healthcare Workforce Collaborative Program will help WKCTC take on the shortage of nurses.

West Kentucky Community and Technical College will receive $210,000 in a two-year grant to grow programs to train nurses and other healthcare workers.

The grant funding will be used to start an accelerated path for Licensed Practical Nurses to become Registered Nurses in a 12-month period.  

Vanessa Lyons, WKCTC nursing program access and success coordinator said, "This new program is designed for working LPNs who need a flexible program which allows them to keep working while they take the coursework to become an RN." 

Shari Gholson, dean of nursing and allied health, said, "The quickest way to get well-prepared RNs into the area workforce is for LPNs to become RNs through the new accelerated hybrid program. This two-year grant will enable WKCTC to expand our programming to address the shortage of registered nurses in the Purchase area. We anticipate the hybrid delivery format will open up access to the education mobility opportunity for more students."

Gholson added that all of WKCTC's RN program graduates get hired upon completion of the program.

The target for the first class of students to begin the new program is Fall 2023.