INDIAN RIVER STATE COLLEGE NEWS
24
NURSING SCHOOL PLANS MOVE TO
ACCOMMODATE MORE STUDENTS
TCBusiness.com
BY SUZANNE SELDES
There’s a critical need for more nurses in
Florida. According to the Florida Hospital
Association, by 2035, the state will have
59,100 fewer nurses than it requires.
In direct response to this workforce
crisis, Indian River State College recently
announced plans to double the number
of students in its nursing programs and
launch the construction phase of a project
that moves the IRSC School of Nursing to
its Pruitt Campus in Port St. Lucie by the
fall of 2023.
Two Pruitt Campus structures are slated
for complete re-imagination as IRSC works
with Harvard Jolly Architecture — one of
the largest firms in Florida with expertise
in healthcare architecture and interior
design — to transform the buildings
into state-of-the-art nursing classrooms
and simulated clinical settings. Proctor
Construction, the firm responsible for
the new Advanced Workforce Training
Complex and multiple IRSC renovation
projects, will construct the new home for
the School of Nursing.
“Graduates of the IRSC nursing program
have always been highly sought-after,”
states Dr. Timothy Moore, IRSC president.
“Not a week goes by where at least one
local healthcare facility reaches out to our
School of Nursing to connect with alumni
or soon-to-be graduates. By expanding
our nursing program and investing in
these modern facilities, we can be even
more responsive to our partners’ workforce
needs.”
IRSC’s associate degree in nursing
and RN to BSN programs are nationally
accredited. Students also are trained to
local and state clinical requirements.
Licensure and certification rates for
nursing students are consistently above
state and national levels. For the past three
years, the average employment rate for
associate degree in nursing graduates
was 99%. v
Frank Irby, an IRSC trustee, listens as a nursing student
explains a training device during the December event.
Attending the event were, from left, District Board
of Trustees members Susan Caron, Vicki Davis,
Jose Conrado and Milo Thornton, along with IRSC
president, Dr. Timothy Moore.
INDIAN RIVER STATE COLLEGE PHOTOS
An Indian River State College student demonstrates a training simulator during an event announcing the expansion of the nursing program.
/TCBusiness.com