COLUMBIA, S.C. — Right now, South Carolina is dealing with hospital staffing shortages. According to a journal article in the National Library of Medicine, the state has a 25% hospital staffing shortage based on operational needs and staff nurse to patient ratios.
Columbia International University is combating the shortage by starting up two new science programs this week. They are nursing and bio-medical science.
These new buildings, new science programs, new directors and new deans have been in the works for several years at CIU, but finally they are opening doors for classes to begin.
It's all in good timing to prepare future healthcare workers.
"Nursing schools have been seeing a 3% increase in applications to nursing programs within the last 2 years since the pandemic. The average age of nurses right now is 50 years old, so lots of nurses will be retiring soon and we know that that's only going to impact the shortage for nursing right now," said Jill McElheny, director of nursing programs.
"So when I graduated it was just the height of the pandemic and I definitely grew much more respect for the profession in general. Nursing is something that as you can tell from the pandemic, it's needed," Cicely Ford, junior BSN student said.
As several nursing students have been put on years-long waitlists for programs, this one is offering open seats.
"I had no idea at the time that CIU had a BSN program in the works and the timing really couldn't have been more perfect when I finished out the preliminary stuff and was ready to move on, but was faced with so many waiting lists and other things that were going to take a lot longer," Megan Pifer, junior BSN student said.
A little over 80 spots are available for freshmen through seniors.
These programs also have the spaces needed - simulation centers for nursing and labs for science.
Biomedical science also has open space. The dean of science programs David DeWitt tells News 19 there's no limit on enrollment right now as they have tons of open seats.
"Now that we have the health science lab we're able to provide facility and equipment that the students really need to get their hands on and learn those skills," DeWitt said.
According to the university, both the science programs dean and nursing director are looking at expanding these programs down the line with offerings for masters and doctoral degrees.