Why Indian River State College's nursing school ceremony had special meaning for me

There's a certain sameness to ribbon-cutting ceremonies.

If you've been to a couple, you know what to expect: There will be a few speeches. Some recognition of people who helped make whatever new thing is being launched possible, either through financial contributions or sweat equity. And then there's usually a photo op where local dignitaries gather, either with one big pair of scissors or several pairs of smaller ones, to slice the ceremonial ribbon and mark a new beginning of some sort.

The Aug. 8 ceremony at Indian River State College's Pruitt campus checked all of those boxes, but it also had a special emotional impact on me.

It was a festive occasion as an enthusiastic crowd of 200 or so gathered in the auditorium of Building G to officially christen the school of nursing's expanded and upgraded facilities.

IRSC President Timothy Moore, who comes across as very focused and intense during interviews, entertained the audience with a few jokes and funny stories. A couple of the other speakers had their moments, too.

But for me, the highlight of the ceremony was watching Patricia Gagliano, the nursing school's dean, get a bit choked up as she tried to sum up the new facilities' importance near the end, right before the obligatory giant scissors made their appearance.

Although there was a time earlier in the event when some of the military veterans in attendance were recognized, Gagliano, her faculty and the students the college serves should be considered warriors, too.

And in the war they're fighting, lives are no less at stake than they are on a battlefield.

As you may have read or heard, our country is in the throes of a nursing shortage. COVID-related burnout and retirements have thinned the ranks of the people who serve on the front lines of our country's health care system.

Simply put, our society is losing nurses at a faster rate than we're replacing them.

And, as much as we might like to think "the rules are different" in Florida, the Sunshine State doesn't have any special immunity to this crisis.

In fact, with our aging population, which tends to need a higher level of medical services than younger folks, Florida is expected to be one of a handful of states most severely impacted by this shortage. The Florida Hospital Association projects nearly 60,000 additional nurses will be needed by 2035.

This is why the ceremony was so meaningful. IRSC's nursing program, founded in 1965, has produced more than 6,000 graduates with associate degrees in nursing during its history. In 2009, the college added four-year bachelors degrees to the program's mix ― which has churned out nearly 1,000 more graduates.

The new facilities, which include rooms where students can work under simulated "real world" conditions, are designed to double the nursing school's capacity to produce "practice-ready" nurses. The school offers a range of programs, from home health aide training to four-year baccalaureate degrees.

Suzanne Seldes, IRSC's associate vice president of communications, said the expanded center will allow the school to enroll 320 students in its associate in science program and 62 in the practical nursing program this year, with additional enrollees in other programs.

(The four-year degree program, as well as a cryptic reference IRSC board chairman Anthony George made during the ceremony to a future medical school "adjacent to or on" IRSC's campus, suggest what was once a commuter school with a limited mission is significantly expanding its role in our community, but that's a column for another day.)

IRSC's high-tech nursing boot camp won't completely solve the statewide or national nursing shortages, but it's a step in the right direction.

For some of us who have dealt with health issues, the shortage hits home on a very personal level. When I was in a Colorado hospital's ICU nearly three years ago with a severe case of COVID, I might have seen a doctor 10 or 15 minutes out of a given day.

When you're as sick as I was, it takes longer than that to clear your mind and your airways enough to ask a few questions. You know, about basic stuff, like what are the odds you'll survive the night.

Nurses, in contrast, were with me around the clock during my weeklong stint there.

They made sure I got the proper doses of what were then considered experimental drugs. They instructed me to lie on my stomach or my sides to help clear crud out of my lungs.

They encouraged me to eat, even when any kind of food seemed unappetizing. And they were the ones who woke me up and packed me in ice the night my fever spiked to a dangerously high level.

Not all nurses work in emergency rooms, operating theaters or intensive care units, but the tasks they perform are important, too. For example, getting a blood pressure check is a routine part of many visits to the doctor's office. If a nurse fails to do that simple task correctly, and early warning signs are missed, it could leave a patient susceptible to a heart attack, stroke or other serious malady.

So yes, Tuesday's ceremony was a cause for celebration. Completing the renovation work was a significant achievement and all those who had a hand in it deserved the recognition they received.

But it was also a grim reminder of the challenges ahead as our society collectively gets older and sicker. We'll need IRSC's expanded nursing school, and probably many more like it, to meet the need that's looming on the horizon like those thunderstorm clouds we see so often this time of year.

This column reflects the opinion of Blake Fontenay. Contact him via email at bfontenay@gannett.com or at 772-232-5424.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Indian River State's upgraded nursing program fills a critical need