To help address the critical workforce shortage in health care, nursing in particular, the University of North Carolina System initiated a call for grant proposals to distribute $40 million over a span of two years to UNC System schools. 

Sarah Banks, Emily Jenkins, Kelly Martin-Hicks, Abigail Clark, Heather Koonce and Sarah Keener at Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency have successfully completed the N.C. Credentialed Public Health Nurse Course.

For anyone looking to get into the field of nursing, Southwestern Community College will offer a Practical Nursing program starting in the spring semester.

At a time when North Carolina faces a serious nursing shortage, Haywood Community College has invested in its nursing program with a new Health Sciences Building. Full of the latest educational technology, it will expand, enhance and modernize the nursing student experience, preparing the next generation for a career in healthcare.

In 2019, registered nurses were listed as the third most in-demand job in the U.S., and even though enrollment in nursing programs is also on the rise, it’s not keeping pace with the market demand.

As a respiratory therapist, Bruce Moyle is trained to deliver breathing therapies to people who struggle to draw oxygen. As a respiratory therapy instructor at Southwestern Community College, he’s trained to deliver the next generation of healthcare workers to a region that struggles to hire enough of them. 

For students in the nursing program at Western Carolina University, the Coronavirus Pandemic sauntered into their world during spring break 2020. On Wednesday of that week, the university informed students that the break would be extended by one week. By Friday, the news was more dire, students wouldn’t be returning to campus at all. 

For Malcom Skinner, the pandemic was not a pause, but rather a call to action. 

“I’ve been trained up to this moment,” he said.