Associate Nursing Program Returns to Huron
November 21, 2017
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Watch the full announcement here.
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HURON, SD – Huron Regional Medical Center (HRMC) Foundation is pleased to announce the return of an associate degree in nursing to Huron, thanks to an innovative partnership with Southeast Technical Institute and other healthcare facilities in the region.
Southeast Tech has received approval from the South Dakota Board of Nursing to open a satellite registered nursing program in Huron with classes scheduled to begin Fall 2018.
“We are excited to bring our top-rated two-year nursing program to Huron to help ensure a continued supply of nurses to care for the communities in the region,” said Jim Jacobsen, Southeast Tech Vice President of Academic Affairs.
Current licensed practical nursing (LPN) students with 750 hours of experience are eligible to apply for the hybrid program which will include online classes through Southeast Tech and lab and clinicals in Huron at Huron Community Campus (HCC) and local healthcare facilities.
“Data continues to show the number of available licensed registered nurses lags behind the available positions throughout the State and in particular in the Huron region,” explained Kristin Possehl, RN, MSN, MEd, Southeast Tech Nursing Program Director and SD Board of Nursing President. “We are pleased to offer this program to current LPNs in the Huron region as part of our goal to make technical education affordable, accessible and attainable.”
“This agreement provides an important opportunity for rural students to further their nursing education and careers in the rural communities they’ve chosen to live in,” according to David Dick, HRMC president and CEO and member of Huron’s Nursing Taskforce.
Huron has been without a two-year nursing program since 2016 when the last Dakota Wesleyan University-Huron site class graduated. Huron’s Nursing Taskforce was formed to create local opportunities for nursing education, encourage community members to consider a career in nursing and to support existing healthcare workers in advancing their degrees.
To encourage local LPNs to advance their education through this new partnership with Southeast Tech, the HRMC Foundation and other medical centers and health providers in the area are funding scholarships and offering jobs after program completion.
Next steps
The first cohort for Southeast Tech’s LPN-RN program is planned to begin in August 2018 with room for up to 16 students. Those who complete the 24-credit RN program in July 2019 will be eligible to take their nursing board exam.
Interested LPNs will need to complete five prerequisites before starting the program including: Speech, Sociology OR Marriage and Family, Chemistry, Microbiology and Physiology.
“We believe it is important to offer these courses locally, so we are working closely with the Huron Community Campus to create an opportunity for students to complete all of the prerequisites in Huron or online,” Brooke Sydow, EdD, HRMC Workforce Program Developer. “Southeast Tech admissions representatives and I are working together to make it as easy as possible for local LPNs to be in a position to start the program in August 2018.
More information about registering for the program is available online at
www.southeasttech.edu or by calling 605-367-6114. Scholarship information is available by calling 605-353-6315.
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