Spring 2003

Volume 6 Number 2
A publication of Macon State College

Supply and Demand

Nursing major Todd Greene hard at work in class. Photo by Sheron Smith

With jobs in the field plentiful, students looking to change careers are flocking to MSC's nursing program.

By Sheron Smith

What the personal computer did to the typewriter is pretty much what the Internet is doing to Dennis Plasters’ longtime career as a travel agency manager. With more people going online to buy airline tickets and book vacations, Plasters figured it was time to find another way to make a living.

So, at age 39, he’s working on his nursing degree at Macon State College.

“The travel industry has been kind of unstable for a while now, and I knew I couldn’t count on it for retirement,” Plasters said. “But I think there will always be a demand for nurses.”

Plasters isn’t the only Macon State nursing student seeking a career change to a profession that offers good job security in tough economic times. Dr. Pam O’Neal, chair of the College’s Nursing and Health Sciences Division, estimates that half or more of Macon State’s students working toward a nursing degree are career switchers.

“And, generally, they tend to be some of our better students,” O’Neal said. “They bring more to the table because of their previous job and life experiences. They tend to be more mature and are more confident in their abilities.”

According to a report that Georgia’s Healthcare Workforce Technical Advisory Committee released in 2001, the state and the rest of the nation may be facing the worst shortage of non-physician health care professionals in history. Many states, including Georgia, are trying to deal with a shortage of registered nurses resulting from a complex mix of reasons, including aging baby boomers beginning to tax the health care industry, older RNs entering retirement and, until recently, a nationwide decline in nursing school enrollment.

Macon State College is a key player in dealing with Central Georgia’s nursing shortage. Building on the successful associate degree in nursing that the College has offered for more than 30 years, Macon State is developing a bachelor of science in nursing to be launched in fall 2004. The B.S. in nursing will be a completion degree — often referred to as an “R.N. to B.S.N.” program — designed for registered nurses with associate degrees. The College expects the bachelor’s degree to attract more students whose goal is a baccalaureate education in nursing.

MSC nursing majors Dennis Plasters and Cherie Giles get ready for a clinical rotation at Coliseum Medical Center. Photo by Sheron Smith

“The R.N. to B.S.N. is coming along at a perfect time for those who are interested in nursing as a career change,” O’Neal said. “They can get their associate degrees, start their new career and begin working part-time on the B.S. We stress to all of our nursing students, whether they are right out of high school or coming back to enter a new profession, that the associate degree will get them started in nursing, but a bachelor’s degree will really help them advance their careers.”

Besides the plethora of job openings, good starting salaries and flexible work schedules are drawing second-career-seeking students to Macon State’s nursing program.

“I like the idea that I can work three 12-hour shifts and take the rest of the week off,” said Todd Greene, 31, of Macon, a former health and P.E. teacher and personal fitness trainer. “There’s a lot of variety in nursing jobs, too, which is good for me because I can get bored easily. Nursing can be hard work but when I added everything together, it seemed like a good choice for me.”

Cherie Giles, 31, of Crawford County started Macon State’s nursing program years ago but dropped out because she needed to work. Since then, she has been an office manager, sales representative and chiropractor’s aide.

But two years ago, after she quit paid work to help care for two chronically ill grandparents, Giles dusted off her dream and re-enrolled at Macon State.

“When I was taking care of my grandparents, it was like God hit me over the head and said, ‘This is what you were meant to do.’”

But while Giles sees nursing as her “calling,” she acknowledges that the job security and earnings potential were selling points.

“I think a lot of people in nursing school today think about those things,” she said. “They know there’s a nursing shortage and they know they’ll be able to get a job anywhere.”

O’Neal understands the appeal of job security and good pay, but she cautions that nobody should switch to a nursing career solely for those reasons.

“Not everybody can be a nurse,” she said. “You have to have compassion and people skills and an aptitude for science and math.”

Potential nursing students should follow the examples of Plasters, Greene and Giles, all of whom investigated the field thoroughly before enrolling at Macon State. They also did some soul-searching to make sure they were a good fit for the job.

“I think people who don’t have a caring personality won’t stick with the program,” Giles said. “That first semester of doing clinicals will make or break them.”