BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — State leaders said nursing students can pursue apprenticeships as they work towards certifications, giving them the chance to get paid and hands-on experience before becoming formal nurses.
The Tennessee Board of Nursing approved nurse apprenticeship as a viable pathway to becoming a nurse. The Tennessee Hospital Association said in a release that it led the effort to approve apprenticeship as a career pathway with help from government, education and hospital leaders.
The association said its efforts would lead to a statewide program that can effectively be used by employers and hospitals to recruit nursing students as apprentices.
Max Tunstill, the chief nursing officer of Lincoln Health, said in the release that a similar apprenticeship program in Alabama improved a pipeline of entry-level nurses. He said in that program, students were assigned to mentors who worked one-on-one with them.
Another leader said Tennessee's nursing apprenticeship program could create opportunities for healthcare organizations and academic institutions to work together and decrease the gap from when students graduate to when they begin working.
