The Georgia College School of Nursing received $178,588 in funding from the Georgia Department of Public Health to help address health care shortages throughout the state.
 
The funds come after Georgia College offered a pilot course in the summer of 2014, giving public health nurses an opportunity to receive additional training, according to Director of Nursing Programs Dr. Debby MacMillan.
 
“The Georgia Department of Public Health wanted one course that would encompass all the additional education and advanced skills that nurses who work in expanded roles in public health require,” MacMillan said.
 
“They approached us in large part because of our past history of working together, and because Georgia College has a well-respected online RN-BSN nursing program,” she said. “Our RN-BSN online program was ranked 5th in the nation in 2016 by U.S. & News World Report.”
 
Funding covers the course and books for nurses employed by the Department of Public Health from Macon, Athens, Savannah, Albany, Rome and other areas across Georgia.
 
Nursing practitioners are among the 20 fastest growing occupations for 2014-2024 – rising 35 percent in that timeframe, according the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The state partnership underscores Georgia College’s School of Nursing mission, as well as the necessity to address health care shortages in regions across the state, MacMillan said.
 
“Our mission is to help meet health care needs throughout Georgia, especially in areas where there are shortages,” she said. “In some of these areas, the Department of Public Health might be the only real source of health care.”
 
The online course focuses on reproductive health and health assessment. There are currently 31 nurses enrolled in the online course, with a projection of serving a total of 130 nurses by the end of funding in December 2017, MacMillan said. The online format is ideal for public health nurses, as it allows them flexibility to gain skills while still working fulltime.
 
“One of our hopes for the course is that it encourages nurses to consider expanding their education,” she said. “If they have an associate’s, maybe they’ll pursue their bachelor’s. If they have their bachelor’s, hopefully they’ll consider an advanced practitioner degree.”