SRU nursing pathway to combat nurse shortage
In times of crisis, nurses are often present to comfort and care for us. A shortage in Pennsylvania could leave patients vulnerable to reduced quality of care and longer wait times.
Slippery Rock University believes addressing the shortage is critical to our communities, and that its new 1+2+1 nursing pathway helps do that.
“We’re looking at, what does our local industry really need? We’re trying to create these partnerships, identify what are our needs here in Western Pennsylvania,” Christine Karshin, dean of the College of Health Professions, said.
According to the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, hospitals report roughly 14% of nursing positions are unfilled, leading to longer hours and staffs being stretched thin. The state is expecting a shortage of 20,000 nurses in its workforce by 2026.
SRU’s College of Health Professions has made numerous efforts to highlight career opportunities in the health care industry in hopes of getting more local residents into healthcare-adjacent fields of work. The college held a “health care next generation program” in November to promote fields of work in health to local high school students.
The college sees its new 1+2+1 pathway as another important step being taken to address a need for nurses locally.
Students participating in the new pathway program will take general education classes at SRU in their first year of school while beginning their nursing degree. In their second and third years, they would complete requirements to become a registered nurse at partner institutions. After that, they will be eligible to sit for the national council licensure exam and begin working as registered nurses. They would complete their nursing degree at SRU by the end of their fourth year.
The two partner institutions are Community College of Beaver County and the Allegheny Health Network Schools of Nursing.
“The experiences will be very similar to what we have, but the program would be involved with two different locations. Right now at SRU, we don’t have infrastructure as of yet, we’re working toward that to hopefully, in the future, offer a four-year program,” Karshin said. “This took a lot of time and energy coordinating with our faculty and nursing program.”
The university said its new nursing pathway is designed to help students complete their bachelor’s degree in nursing in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
“With the critical demand for nurses, SRU is leading the way for future nurses to earn their bachelor’s degree with the highest quality education in the shortest amount of time and with the lowest possible costs,” Michele Crytzer, an associate professor of nursing and department chair, said in a university news release.
In the three years Karshin has been dean of the college, she has increasingly noticed the need to confront the shortage. She said working together with local institutions and industry partners is key for addressing problems faced in the local workforce.
Karshin also credit’s SRU’s president, Karen Riley, for implementing a new university strategic plan that includes creating programs and university partnerships based on present-day industry needs.
“It has been a concerted effort while I’ve been dean to make contact with a lot of the local health systems to identify how can we be a better reciprocal partner and vice versa. It became very clear early in my tenure the degree of the nursing shortage in the area.”
Karshin said there is not necessarily a shortage of nursing programs, but the overall capacity is the issue. The number of students a program like Slippery Rock’s can accept does not meet the demand of the industry or the demand of perspective students wanting to get into nursing programs, she said.
“Adding programs and thinking of ways to expand footprint, it’s gonna be win for Slippery Rock University,” Karshin said.
SRU leaders started talking about expanding the program within the past two years. Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the nursing program is currently 100% online. Karshin said SRU has tried to identify a number of pathways to add additional programming that could provide new opportunities.
In its news release about the new pathway, SRU claimed the addition of one health care employee in Pennsylvania generates about $112,000 in direct economic output and more than $206,000 in total economic output, when including an employee’s purchasing, selling and other economic exchanges in a community.
The new pathway program launches in fall of 2025, and Karshin said people have already began to apply for it.
“What I’ve been told by colleagues in enrollment management is that students considering coming to SRU definitely ask about the nursing program. We’ve had the program, but not one that students right out of high school can jump right into. We’re really excited about the possibility of growth of the program,” Karshin said.
