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Staff Reports

South Georgia Technical College has been selected to receive the Georgia Board of Healthcare Workforce (GBHCW) Nursing School Grant, announced SGTC President Dr. John Watford.  The GBHCW Nursing School Grant is designed to support nursing schools with waitlists, provide more opportunities to enhance enrollment capacity and graduate more nurses to serve our communities.

   “The funding form the Georgia Board of Healthcare Workforce comes at an opportune time for South Georgia Technical College,” said SGTC President Dr. John Watford. “While we continue to train our existing Practical Nursing students, the college is embarking on the application process for an LPN to RN Bridge program that will, not only provide tremendous new opportunities for LPN’s in the field, but also help Georgia bridge the gap presented by the severe nursing shortage.

   “Even though we want to get students as quickly as possible from the classroom into the workforce, we dare not cut any corners in providing a rigorous curriculum that will produce a well-trained and knowledgeable graduate.  The funding through the GBHCW grant will provide much-needed state-of-the-art equipment to enhance the robust program for our existing practical nursing students and for our future bridging students,” added Dr. Watford.

    The GBHCW grant at South Georgia Technical College will be utilized to purchase equipment and materials to increase retention, graduation, and pass rates for South Georgia Technical College’s practical nursing program.

   The college will purchase two Anatomage convertible 3D interactive Anatomy Learning tables.  Students can visualize anatomy exactly as they would on a physical cadaver to provide for an unprecedented level of real anatomy accuracy.  This virtual learning approach has been adopted by many of the world’s leading medical schools.  SGTC will utilize this equipment on both the Americus and the Crisp County Center campuses.

   South Georgia Technical College will also purchase reusable study materials, supplies and books for the LPN program and other materials for in-class instruction as well as the NCLEX testing preparation.  These materials should assist the college in increasing the pass, retention, and graduation rates for the students in the three-semester practical nursing program on both campuses.  SGTC serves a rural, low income student population that struggles to afford additional study enhancement materials.

   With the help of this grant, South Georgia Technical College will be able to increase the number of practical nurses who serve in the rural service area and the nursing field as a whole.

   A total of $3 million in grants was awarded by the Georgia Board of Health Care Workers.  In addition to South Georgia Technical College, Albany Technical College, Central Georgia Technical College, Georgia Southwestern State University, Lanier Technical College, Savannah Technical College, and Southern Regional Technical College were also awarded grants.