Medical City is helping with the nursing shortage by paying for nursing school

NORTH TEXAS – Imagine needing some kind of medical care, but no one’s there to provide it.

Scary thought, right??

That’s the situation not only facing north Texas, but the whole country, when it comes to nurses.

“We`re in a nursing shortage and they predict that in the future we`re going to have more than a million open nursing positions in, I think, 2020,” says Chief Nursing Officer at Medical City Womens and Children’s Angie Buckmeier who knows it well at Medical City.

Part of the problem?? Getting all the proper training is expensive! And paying for it can be tough!

“Having my first degree I went out of state for school, I had a few scholarships but I paid the majority of that in school loans and stuff,” says Registered Nurse at Medical City, Taylor Gillen.

And for people wanting to go back to school for a different profession, like becoming a nurse, money can be a deterrent.

But let’s face it, nurses will always be needed, which is why the Hospital Corporation of America, or Medical City Healthcare as it’s more locally known, is willing to pay for your schooling through the Texas 2-Step Nursing Pathway Program at Medical City.

“It`s just really vital that we get the opportunity of school to all of these people that may not be able to fund it themselves,” naturally, Gillen wanted the opportunity. “When I found out that it was all going to be funded for me, it really helped a lot.”

“HCA pays for their tuition and their books and they just ask them to commit for two years,” says Buckmeier, they`re able to go through the program, get their associates degree, do their clinicals in our setting, within our North Texas division hospitals.”

“Two years of hard work! It was incredible graduating and just a big sigh of relief,” says Gillen, “I get to impact people`s lives every day and I actually like what I`m doing!”

Three hundred nurses have completed the program since it started in ’08, and Gillen has a reminder. “Don`t give up on your dreams be it money or fear that`s keeping you from them, just keep trying!”

Some good advice from a woman who followed through on her dream to help others!

To find out more information like the requirements and qualifiers, contact the Human Resources department at any Medical City Healthcare hospital.