The nursing workforce in Montana could benefit from a grant for an expanded training program.
City College in Billings is receiving $1.9 million from the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration.
Vicki Trier is the college dean. She told Yellowstone Public Radio that the money will be used to hire another faculty member with a focus on simulation.
“And what that means is if we have trouble getting them into clinical sites, we can balance that out with simulations. We have pretty high tech simulation mannequins right now and we're upgrading those, but we'll be able to have more students come in and do simulation,she said.”
The program will expand from 15 Licensed Practical Nurse students to 22, the Registered Nurse program from 40 to 56 students per year over a five year period.
Trier says they will also expand outreach to eastern montana to recruit students who are likely to return to their hometowns to work.
“We'll be able to talk to folks who are maybe already LPNs or CNAs and they want to advance their career and provide them with some preparation to then hopefully get into the program,” she said.
Trier says the need for nurses in Montana is getting higher every day because of retirement and nurses moving on to do other things.
