After graduation, about half of Fayetteville nursing students are employed locally
On average, 50% of Cumberland County nursing graduates stay local after graduation, according to Fayetteville nursing school administrators.
There are two universities and one community college in Fayetteville — all three offer several nursing degrees.
At Fayetteville State and Methodist universities, students can earn a Bachelor of Science or a Master of Science in nursing. At Fayetteville Technical Community College, students can earn an associate’s in nursing.
Currently, there is a shortage of nurses in North Carolina. According to EducationNC.org, if the trend continues, North Carolina could be among the top five states to have the highest shortage of nurses by 2026.
Methodist University
Dr. Shannon Matthews, the dean of nursing at Methodist University, said up to 50% of school's nursing graduates are employed locally.
“The average for the past nine classes is about 37%,” she said. “It’s been as high as 50% and as low as 14%.”
Matthews, who worked as a nurse for 30 years and has been in education for the last 20, said the starting salary for the area is $55,000 to $60,000 a year.
“People that work here, live here and spend their money in the community,” she said.
Last year, 14 nursing students graduated from Methodist, and six of them were hired to work at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.
Methodist is trying to address the need for more nursing students, Matthews said.
“Part of the nursing shortage can be attributed to the nursing facility shortage,” she said. “So, in order to achieve that, we are offering some online options for associate degree nurses to complete their (Bachelor of Science in Nursing), and then we have some graduate-degree courses to prepare them for either administrative roles or academic roles.”
For the past two years, all of the nursing students have passed the National Council Licensure Examination Exam, which every student must pass after graduation to become a licensed registered nurse, Matthews said.
She said Methodist University encourages its nursing graduates to stay local.
Fayetteville State University
Dr. Sheila Cannon, the associate dean of nursing and a professor at Fayetteville State University, said about 50% of the students who graduate with nursing degrees stay local.
The three nursing programs offered at Fayetteville State are prelicensure, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and Master of Science in Nursing. The prelicensure programs allow students to become licensed practical nurses, and the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program allows students to become registered nurses.
Last year, about 120 students graduated from the school's three nursing programs, Cannon said.
In addition, Fayetteville State also provides free training to nurses who want to be certified in conducting sexual assault exams.
Cape Fear Valley Medical Center has a shortage of sexual assault nurse examiners, according to Chaka Jordan, a spokesperson for Cape Fear Valley Health System.
More: Shortage of SANEsMoney from new state budget keeps Fayetteville's Rape Crisis Center open
Fayetteville Technical Community College
Dr. Murtis Worth, the dean of nursing at Fayetteville Technical Community College, said nearly 85% of their students who earn an associate degree in nursing are employed locally.
“I know one employer, they hired 70% of our graduates,” she said. “There are tons of (employers) in the area looking for nurses.”
FTCC has two different nursing programs available: the licensed practical nurses program and the registered nurse program. A registered nurse provides direct care to patients, while a licensed practical nurse usually provides assistance to doctors or registered nurses.
Due to limited space and community college faculty members, Worth said about 50% of applicants are turned away.
FTCC has nearly 75 students set to graduate from the nursing program in May.
“We’ve had what I would call decent growth in our program over the last couple of years,” Worth said.
In May, FTCC had about 35 students graduate from the nursing program.
FTCC nursing students do their clinic hours primarily at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center. For students to earn an associate degree in nursing, 1,000 clinical hours must be completed, which is equivalated to 12 hours of clinical work a week.
Worth attended the nursing program at FTCC in 2009. She, like many others, chose to work locally.
“I just really had a passion for caring for others,” she said.
After practicing for about a decade, she decided to become a professor at FTCC.
“Training new nurses were the happiest part of the day, so it was a natural transition,” she said.
There is currently a nursing shortage in Cumberland County, Worth said, which means nursing students will easily find a job after graduation.
Nurses can start off making about $60,000 a year but can make upward of $80,000, Worth said.
“They have a job when they leave months before they graduate,” she said.
Education and families reporter Ariana-Jasmine Castrellon can be reached at acastrellon@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Nursing at Methodist University, Fayetteville State University, FTCC
