FORT KENT – The University of Maine at Fort Kent and Northern Maine Medical Center are hoping to turn the tide on a local and nationwide nursing shortage by introducing area high school students and their parents to the opportunities available in the profession.
With a critical nursing shortage looming and enrollments in schools dropping, university and hospital officials are increasing awareness of nursing as a career and promoting its richness and benefits.
To begin the joint effort, the UMFK Nursing Honor Society and NMMC nursing department will sponsor an open house at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 30, in the Fort Kent Community High School cafeteria.
“This is part of our response to the shortage of nurses in hospitals nationwide and the decreasing enrollment in baccalaureate nursing programs,” said Rachel Albert, director of UMFK’s nursing program.
“Declining admissions in baccalaureate nursing programs, as high as 25 percent, have been reported. The average age in nursing today is 45, so we share a responsibility to attract younger people in the field.”
Joanne Fortin, director of nursing at NMMC, agrees with Albert. “Now is the time to take proactive measures to reverse an alarming trend. In the past we had been able to focus our recruiting efforts on potential employees. We can no longer do that,” she said. “By introducing students to nursing careers at a younger age, we feel that we can encourage them to think about their future now.”
The open house will be an opportunity for prospective students to meet with professionals in the field and to be exposed to interactive displays, each featuring a specialty in nursing.
Information provided to the junior and senior high students will include details on what nursing is about, opportunities in the field, the academic prerequisites and grades required for nursing school admission and beneficial personal attributes to succeed in the field.
For more information on the UMFK-NMMC open house, contact Lena Michaud at 207-834-7580.
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