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By Jim Steele
steele@mckenziebanner.com |
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From a very early age, Dr. Jenny Johnsonius knew she
wanted to be a nurse. The passion for her profession
just beams from her face.After 28 years in the
nursing business, Johnsonius hopes to impart some of
that passion to a handful of prodigies while making a
bit of history.
In conjunction with the Tennessee Technological
Centers in Paris and McKenzie, Johnsonius met with the
first Licensed Practical Nursing Class at McKenzie
Regional Hospital.
"We're so excited and this has been a dream of mine
for a long time," Johnsonius, herself a registered
nurse, said. "There is a great nursing shortage,
especially in Northwest Tennessee; we're producing a
service that's in high demand."
With that in mind, the LPN class has accepted 20
students for a year of intense study. Johnsonius said
that she received approximately 60 queries and as those
inquests narrowed down, 20 students were seated.
"That's all we can handle right now, but there are
plans to expand," Johnsonius said.
Establishment of the LPN program in McKenzie began
with a needs survey almost two years ago. A proposal was
issued to the state board of nursing last March and the
plan was accepted last October. Mentions were made of
the acceptance during the October McKenzie mayoral
debate.
"So here we are," Johnsonius said.
Students will be subjected to intense course work
through the next 12 months. The class meets every day
for six hours, with a 30-minute break in the day. Areas
of study include basic nursing skills, pharmacology,
medical surgery assistance, geriatrics, and mental
health among other things.
"I sent them home today and they are responsible for
60 pages of reading tomorrow when they get here," said
Johnsonius, outlining the rigorous curriculum. "They
know that they've given up a year of their lives to
study, but when they finish, they will have a marketable
skill and will fill a need."
The students meet each day in a room located in one
of the hospital wings, but this LPN class is afforded
one of the nicest facilities of its kind. Adjacent to
the lecture area is a clinical care area, a place with
hospital beds, wheelchairs, gurneys and other appliances
students may encounter when dealing with sick or
injured.
"They'll get a lot of hands-on experience,"
Johnsonius said. "But the good thing is that they'll get
a lot of practice before they go and do the real thing.
"It will be exciting to place students in clinical
settings and it will be more exciting to see the
students evolve," she said.
Johnsonius was a nurse practitioner at Austin Peay
State University and an associate professor of nursing
there. She earned her Ph. D. in nursing in 1997 and
works part-time at Henry County Medical Center emergency
room in Paris.
"I believe that you have to have hands-on experience
to teach it," Johnsonius said. "I've been practicing 28
years, right out of high school and I've seen a lot."
The biggest challenges for Johnsonius and the program
will be aligning itself for next year's budget and
curriculum-wise, introducing the program to the
community and developing criteria for funding next year.
Students accepted to the program had to pass the
Nursing Entrance Test (NET), apply, and interview with
the program committee. Johnsonius said the students come
from all walks of life and very few have college
experience. But students who complete the course have
vehicles on which to expand.
"There is a bridge program at Jackson State where
from summer to the following May, students can graduate
as an RN," Johnsonius said. "At UT-Martin, there is a
bachelor's program and then a master's program at
Vanderbilt. The sky's the limit."
And to have a program in a rural community is
groundbreaking.
"We're just not in a metropolitan area, but the
healthcare expectations are the same," Johnsonius said.
"The students are willing to give up a year of their
life to fill that need." |
