Muskogee college, hospital team up

MUSKOGEE — Diane Fulton sees the nursing shortage in Oklahoma firsthand, but she’s not waiting for someone else to fix the problem.

The chief nursing officer at Muskogee Regional Medical Center, along with officials from Bacone College, are hammering out the details of an alliance to support nursing students in northeast Oklahoma.

Through the new program, the hospital will pay about $80,000 a year to fund a nursing professor at Bacone, Fulton said. In return, the school will provide about $80,000 in nursing scholarships. The scholarship recipients will promise to work at Muskogee Regional for six months for each semester they receive a scholarship.

The faculty position could be filled as early as January, Fulton said, and scholarships could be awarded as early as the spring semester.

"This won’t rid us of the nursing shortage,” she said. "But in the Muskogee area, I think it’s going to be a big, positive difference.”

Like most Oklahoma hospitals, Muskogee Regional Medical Center has open nursing jobs. Fulton has about 250 registered nurses, she said, but she could use about 50 more.

The situation is likely to get worse, Fulton said. As baby boomers age, the demands for health care will grow and experienced nurses will retire.

So, Fulton said, hospitals and colleges must find creative solutions.

"It’s up to us in the field to take some actions and do something about it,” she said. "We need to at least take some control over our own destiny.”