Above: Linda Stanford, dean of WCU's College of Health and Human Sciences, speaks at the announcement of a new partnership with the Charles George VA Medical Center in Asheville.

Thanks to nearly $1.5 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Western Carolina University and the Charles George VA Medical Center in Asheville are establishing a new partnership to provide more nurses qualified to serve the region and its veteran population.

The partnership is one of five nationally announced this year as part of a five-year, $40 million program that began in 2007. It is the first such partnership between a VA facility and a nursing school in North Carolina.

The three-year grant will increase the number of students in WCU’s Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing entry option by 20 during each year of the grant. Designed for adults who already have earned degrees in other fields, the high-speed alternative covers in just 15 months what traditional nursing classes cover in 24 months.

“This grant will enable us to increase our students’ clinical and educational encounters at the VA Medical Center, providing them with invaluable experience,” said Vincent Hall, director of WCU’s School of Nursing. “They will receive education and practice opportunities in such areas as acute medicine, surgery, long-term care, rehabilitative nursing, palliative care, hospice, primary care, telehealth, home-based primary care, community-based outpatient clinics and pain-resource nursing.”

At least 50 percent of the graduates of the program are expected to be offered employment opportunities within the Veterans Health Administration, which includes the Asheville VA Medical Center.

Western Carolina was selected for the competitive VA Nursing Academy grant in part because of its longstanding affiliation with the VA Medical Center and the excellent quality of WCU’s nursing programs, said Dave Przestrzelski, associate director for patient care services/nurse executive at the Asheville VA facility.

“I am excited that the VA is able to provide faculty, clinical and classroom support to exponentially increase the enrollment in Western’s ABSN option, a very rapid cycle for increasing the supply of RNs in Western North Carolina who add the nursing degree as a second bachelor’s degree, adding to the strength of these graduates as future leaders in the nursing profession and in caring for our nation’s veterans,” Przestrzelski said.

The VA program is part of an effort to address a national shortage of nurses caused in large part by an insufficient number of nursing educators, said Linda Seestedt-Stanford, dean of WCU’s College of Health and Human Sciences. Five additional nursing faculty members – three based at the VA facility and two at WCU – will be made possible through the new funding.

“This partnership is a true win-win-win situation,” Seestedt-Stanford said. “Students interested in careers in nursing will benefit from increased access to nursing education. The VA Medical Center will benefit from a larger number of qualified nurses to provide health care to veterans. And all of Western North Carolina will benefit, because some of the nursing graduates will find work outside the VA system, providing health care to nonveterans.”

Johnnie Guttery, a registered nurse at VA Medical Center who is a graduate of the WCU School of Nursing, called the partnership an excellent opportunity to increase the number of students taking WCU’s fast-track option toward a nursing degree.

“At the same time, we will increase the number of faculty providing education to these students. The outcome will be an increase in the availability of BSN graduates for recruitment,” said Guttery, who also is a nurse educator who serves as program director for the VA Nursing Academy. “Through monthly Nursing Academy rounds, we also will offer current VA staff the opportunity to expand their knowledge base while promoting evidence-based practice, research and the pursuit of advanced degrees.”

Paul Miller

“At the tender age of 30, I decided to join the infantry. I had originally planned to go to nursing school, but put those plans on hold to serve my country,” he said. “After what I saw and experienced over there, it rekindled my desire to do what I had originally intended to do – be a nurse and help people, because in the infantry, you see a lot of things and you deal with a lot of hurt people.”

A limited number of spaces are still available for qualified applicants who already hold a bachelor’s degree. For information on WCU’s School of Nursing and the VA Nursing Academy program, contact Sheila Chapman, coordinator of the ABSN option at Western Carolina, by telephone at (828) 670-8810, extension 228.

Click here to watch video from the event.

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Last Modified: Tuesday, April 21, 2009