University of Nebraska proposes new healthcare initiative
by
Dara Newson
Story Created:
Jan 18, 2012 at 11:56 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Jan 19, 2012 at 12:54 PM CDT
The University of Nebraska at Lincoln has a $441 million proposal,
It's a project that would introduce a new nursing facility and a veterinary diagnostic center in Lincoln plus a health care training facility in Kearney.
This move could benefit hundreds of local nursing students.
The initiative in Kearney would cost $19 million.
News 5's Dara Newson, talked with UNK's Assistant Dean of the Nursing Program.
At the Kearney campus, those funds would help the university add more teachers and increase research space as well as educate more nurses interested in practicing in rural communities.
News 5 spoke with Steven Pitkin of the UNK Nursing program. He says if passed the proposal will open new doors for local nursing students.
If legislature passes the $19 million project, that means a 30,000 square foot addition to the Health Science building. That would bring different parts of the medical field together.
"Educating the nurses with the physician's assistants, with the radiography students, the sonography students, the grad tech students,"
Collaboration between UNK and UNMC would provide health care services to the growing Nebraska aging population. This is expected to increase 62 percent by 2030.
"If we educate them together and have both working together, they'll be better able to form teams that can work in rural Nebraska. It also means a higher number of applicants accepted," said Kearney Nursing College Assistant Dean Steven Pitkin.
Nearly, 50 percent of qualified applicants are turned away from the Nursing division, now with the new initiative enrollment that's expected expected to grow.
"About 40 new health science students and 40 new nursing students thats 80 new students in the region," said Pitkin
This will in turn help address the critical shortage of nurses and nurse educators and provide more technology which helps students pursue a career of their choice.
It's a concept nursing instructor Rita Weber says helps future nurses.
"With our new teaching methodologies to have a state of the art building with new classrooms, its going to help us a lot to not just accommodate our teaching but help the students to learn better," said Weber.
New student admissions and additional students will be accepted over a period of three to four years.
Pitkin also tells me, they expect to have the entire project completed for the Kearney division by 2015.
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