PSU leads Kansas universities in nursing student enrollment

With health care concerns mounting over nursing shortages in Kansas, a report released this week shows that Pittsburg State University is leading the effort to educate new nurses.

In a compilation prepared and released by the Kansas Board of Regents, PSU is recognized for admitting more undergraduate nursing students than any other university in the state of Kansas. Pitt State admitted 46 additional BSN (bachelor of science in nursing) students during the 2007 fiscal year – five times more than similarly sized universities. In total, the 20 Kansas community colleges and universities compared in the report saw an increase of 507 additional BSN students that year.

The increase in program capacity was made possible by the Kansas Nursing Initiative, a 10-year, $30 million state funding and matching grant program that was signed into law in 2006. In the recently released report, the statewide effort to recruit student nurses surpassed the Kansas Legislature’s nursing enrollment goal by 103 percent.

Mary Carol Pomatto, chairperson of the PSU Department of Nursing, says in addition to having more funds to education nursing students, the increase in numbers is the result of bolstered recruitment efforts.

“The recipients of the care provided by our nursing graduates will get the ultimate benefit,” Pomatto said. “We’ve been honored to receive the funding to grow our program, and we are strategically planning our next steps.”

---Pitt State---