Need for registered nurses spurs new class programs

Butler Tech announced last week it will be offering a Registered Nursing training program this fall, a sign that the demand for nurses and health care professionals will continue to increase in the future.

“The employment data is showing that the demand for RNs is great out there right now,” said Frances Neu, supervisor of adult health programs and the RN program at Butler Tech.

In addition to the demand for RNs, Neu said many students who have gone through the school’s Licensed Practical Nursing program have expressed
that they want to continue at Butler Tech to earn their RN license, a
major reason the school decided to offer the program.

“Our Practical Nursing graduates and students wanted to continue at Butler Tech and have been asking for years for us to get an RN program
approved,” Neu said. Not only are we addressing the need to the
community ... but also to our clients and students who wanted us to have
a RN program.”

The demand for nurses may not be as high as many people believe, as Rachel Dattilo, recruitment manager for Mercy Health Partners, said
there are more applicants than there are job openings for RN positions.

“We have nurses that were scheduled to retire who are holding off retirement given the economy,” Dattilo said. “A lot of nurses have
returned to work who regularly wouldn’t be working, because their
spouses lost jobs or hours. It forced some people to return to work.”

Dattilo does expect the demand to increase in the coming years, so she believes such programs as Butler Tech’s will benefit the field.

“What we project will happen is that as the economy picks up, nurses will begin retiring. There are a large number of nurses who are over the
age of 50. They are going to retire, and we’re going to have a huge
need for RNs in the work force.”

And while the need for nurses is expected to increase, there is especially a need for registered nurses.

“Hospitals are getting more technology and they want more education and more expertise on their staff. The growing trend is that hospitals are
only going to be hiring RNs,” Neu said.

Dattilo said that in Mercy’s Greater Cincinnati market, which includes Mercy Health Partners Fairfield, RNs are the new demand. She also has
noticed nurses with their associate degrees going back to school for
their bachelor of science in nursing or going even further and receiving
their master of science in nursing.

Miami University is also meeting demand for need of higher degrees in nursing by creating more opportunities for people to earn their BSN.

“The [nursing] department has a +2 baccalaureate completion program for RNs currently in the workforce who are seeking the BSN ... and a
traditional four-year BSN program,” said director of VOA’s Learning
Center.