KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The University of Tennessee Medical Center partnered with two East Tennessee nursing colleges to help recruit and keep nurses, hoping to rebuild the nursing workforce after it shrunk due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
They said they were partnering with the UT College of Nursing and the Lincoln Memorial University Caylor School of Nursing for the programs. They give students a chance to get work experience while studying and working towards a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
During the program, students will work with UT Medical Center registered nurses. Then, once they graduate, students who worked in the program will be guaranteed employment with UT Medical Center.
“We are building upon our long-standing relationships with the UT and LMU colleges of nursing to create mutually beneficial partnerships to address our region’s complex and unprecedented nursing shortage,” said Dr. Sandy Leake, the UTMC Chief Nursing Officer.
UT Medical Center also already uses endowment funding to provide tuition assistance for up to 12 student scholars every year, combined with a tuition discount offered by the UT College of Nursing.
The new program will offer an additional ten "Excellence in Nursing" students tuition assistance. They will also receive tuition discounts through LMU. That college will also show middle school students about opportunities for careers they could have in health care.
“East Tennessee has long been classified as medically underserved. The pandemic has only exacerbated nursing shortages,” said Dr. Jody Goins, LMU Executive Vice President for Administration. “The LMU Health Science Institute will provide nursing touch points for students as early as middle school and hopefully inspire more students to choose nursing for a career."