Can plan fill nursing gap?

After 22 years as a homemaker, Edie Stelsel changed course last year and enrolled in College of Lake County's nursing program.

Like many returning students, Stelsel, 48, was apprehensive.

Did she do the right thing? Would she find a job when she graduates? Would she be prepared for that job?

Thanks to a new partnership between the college and Vista Health System, Stelsel is feeling better about her future.

Stelsel has applied to be part of a new clinical training agreement CLC has struck with Vista in an attempt to solve the nursing shortage in Lake County.

"It appeals to me because I'll get an interview for sure," Stelsel said. "Hopefully, this will get my foot in the door so I can find employment this summer. This is my first job in a long time."

The selective program -- known as Vision, Collaboration, Learning and Compassion -- targets CLC nursing students entering their third and fourth semesters.

Beginning in the spring, eight to 10 students will be chosen per semester to spend two 7-hour days per week at Waukegan-based Vista as part of their clinical education.

Eileen Gillespie, chief nursing officer at Vista, said the partnership creates a bridge between the classroom and clinical training.

Traditionally, nursing students go to many hospitals for their clinical experience, having to learn each organization and its policies.

Gillespie said completing all clinical work at Vista allows students to work with professionals who become their mentors.

"There is never enough time in any nursing curriculum to give students all of the experiences they ultimately need," she said. "Here, we can spend more time on teaching what the nurses will need to know once they get on the job."

Stelsel said another appealing aspect of the program is students are considered staff, and have access to any additional training offered by the hospital.

"Our courses only cover the basics," she said. "With Vista, we can watch any of the specialty surgeries, in any department of the hospital."

CLC students who complete the program will be guaranteed an interview with the hospital.

After one year of employment, Vista RNs will be able to study for a bachelor's degree, on site, through Northern Illinois University, with the hospital covering 100 percent of tuition.

While the partnership will benefit CLC's nursing students, it will also help Vista officials. They'll be introduced to a pool of job candidates during a time when the country's nursing population is shrinking.

The number of potential caregivers, including nurses, has been declining since 2000, according to the Illinois governor's office. Illinois has an estimated 140,000 nurses now, but that number will continue to drop -- by about 21,000 by 2020.

Meanwhile, the number of those who need care is projected to increase by 31 percent by 2020.

Deborah Jezuit, CLC's director of nursing education, said the problem is twofold: First, nurses are retiring and there aren't enough educators to train people to replace them fast enough. Second, baby boomers are getting older, needing more health care.

The ratio of registered nurses in their 40s to those in their 20s is 4 to 1, according to the Illinois Coalition for Nursing Resources.

Susan Swart, director of nursing practice at the Illinois Nurses Association, said while she hasn't heard of a similar partnership between another school and hospital in the state, she knows colleges have been more competitive about what they can offer nursing students.

"Nursing education is a business and I think we are only going to see this increase," Swart said. "Anything a college can do to help assure a student a job and provide a specific facility will help. This also gives the hospital a built-in work force."

Other area community colleges have been proactive in training more nurses.

Palatine's two-year Harper College asked legislators to approve a four-year nursing degree this year. The measure was taken off the table when the school partnered with NIU in a program similar to the one with CLC.

Meanwhile, CLC expanded its nursing program. Currently, it has just more than 200 nursing students. It can handle up to 220.

The additional nurses will be needed by all the area hospitals.

Condell Medical Center in Libertyville is undergoing an expansion that will create 300 jobs, some of which will be nursing positions.

"Many, many people want to go into nursing, but our ability to educate them isn't there," Gillespie said of the industry. "All hospitals are challenged with a greater demand than supply. This partnership is one way (for Vista) to solve that."