Nursing Shortage Prompts New Programs

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Two Oklahoma colleges are offering new programs to help offset a shortage of nurses in the state.<br/><br/>Tulsa Community College students will be able to take junior year nursing

Monday, June 5th 2006, 9:42 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Two Oklahoma colleges are offering new programs to help offset a shortage of nurses in the state.

Tulsa Community College students will be able to take junior year nursing classes before transferring for a final year at the University of Oklahoma's Tulsa campus. The program is for students who can't afford two years at OU.

And Oklahoma Christian University will begin a bachelor of nursing program this fall. The program will start with 30 students and will produce its first graduates in two years.

A recent survey of employers by the Governor's Council for Workforce and Economic Development found a shortage of one-thousand-160 registered nurses and 245 licensed practical nurses.

Those shortages are expected to double in the next decade.