Nursing education stems skills gap in Chillicothe

Sarah Minor, of Kingston, had been working as a patient care associate at Adena Medical Center for several years but always wanted to become a nurse.

So when she heard about the classes to train nurses at Adena's PACCAR Medical Education Center, Minor enrolled in the program to earn her bachelor of science in nursing.

"It was close to home instead of going clear over to Wright State (University)," Minor said of the school near Dayton. "Smaller class sizes were also a positive for me, too."

The PACCAR Medical Education Center started its BSN program in September 2008 with Wright State University to address the need for skilled nurses in the area. The growth of health care and number of nurses retiring helped to fuel the demand for quality, educated nurses, said Mark Shuter, CEO of Adena Health Systems.

"Health care gets more complex every year," Shuter said. Rather than react to the problem, a $1 million gift from Kenworth's parent company, PACCAR, helped Adena pioneer medical education in southern Ohio, Shuter said.

Across Ohio, communities are working to connect employers with skilled employees by identifying where candidates' skills are lacking, building relationships between employers and schools, creating niche programs and inspiring children to look at local industries when selecting a career.

The Governor's Office of Workforce Transformation creates regular reports on in-demand jobs, provides career advice through one-stop centers in each county and creates incentives for businesses that work with educational institutions. Last year, six pilot programs received grants to place more than 75 percent of the 500 trainees into jobs by the end of the programs, which range from training health care workers in Appalachian Ohio to insurance workers in central Ohio.

In Marion County, laid-off workers were trained in welding while still receiving food assistance. In Licking County, a new program took dozens of high school students on tours of three local manufacturers to educate them about job opportunities in their area.

PACCAR is an example of how area businesses have helped address the skills gap. The center recently purchased an obstetric simulator — named Victoria — becoming the first facility in the world to obtain the sophisticated tool that trains nurses and doctors on challenging births.

"Prior to PACCAR being in the community, we didn't really have a local program where a student could go to get their bachelor of science in nursing," said Judi Henson, chief nursing officer at Adena Health Systems.

In the years since, the program has changed universities — it now partners with Ohio University's Chillicothe branch — and expanded its mission to honing physicians' skills as well. That's an area of concern as the shortage of primary care physicians is predicted to affect hospital systems nationwide, said Dr. David Towle, director of the PACCAR Medical Education Center.

"We've not had the issue with a nursing shortage, because we grow our own in the community," Henson said. Of the 107 nurses who have received degrees from the program, about half have remained at Adena Health Systems to work.

That's what Kelsey Green, of Leesburg, did when she completed her bachelor of science in nursing and two-year internship. She said it is hard for a new nurse to find a job in a hospital setting but the program and education helped Green get her foot in the door.

"Adena is doing big things. They are trying to expand and build education up to help out the community, ... and not just the Chillicothe area, it's the 13 surrounding counties as well," Green said.

The industry is shifting toward nurses with higher education because they can better serve their patients if they know more about what is making them sick, Henson said.

"The research suggests that the higher the education of the nurse, the more prepared the nurse is, and the higher the quality outcomes for the patient," Henson said.

Another way the community is addressing the need for skilled laborers is helping them to score better on job placement tests. Amy Guda, an ABLE instructor and career ready facilitator with South Central Ohio Job and Family Services, offers classes on math and career readiness for people who can't meet minimum scores required by employers.

Many local employers use the ACT WorkKeys test to screen candidates. The questions involve real-world scenarios that candidates might encounter on the job, Guda said.

"It's very common to use that as a criteria for hiring. They are looking for a certain cut score," Guda said.

Guda, who taught the class in Hocking County, expanded the effort to Ross County when the job and family services agencies merged. The basic skills are important to jobs, especially as education becomes more essential to finding a job.

jbalmert@gannett.com

740-328-8548

Twitter: @jbalmert

Looking for a job?

The 26th Annual Jobs Expo will offer opportunities for job seekers from noon to 3 p.m. April 3 at the Shoemaker Center at Ohio University - Chillicothe, 101 University Drive.

For information about the event, call 740-702-2722.

Additional details about local job openings are available at OhioMeansJobs.com.

Looking for more information?

For information about the nursing program at Ohio University's Chillicothe campus, contact them at chillicothe.ohiou.edu. To learn about PACCAR Medical Education Center, go to www.adena.org/inside/paccar.

For details on the career readiness or manage math classes, contact Amy Guda at 740-380-4009.