Yvette Walker
With KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker. This is IE Latino Voices, where we invite representatives from Latino led and Latino serving organizations to share their stories and their impact in our region. Joining me today is Dr. Mary Lopez, Dean of the College of Graduate Nursing at Western University of Health Sciences. Thank you so much for being with us today, Dr. Lopez.
Dr. Mary Lopez
Oh, it's my pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me.
Yvette Walker
So Dr. Lopez, for those that are not familiar with Western University of Health Sciences, please tell us a little bit about it.
Dr. Mary Lopez
Western University of Health Sciences is a university that has eight colleges, one of which is the College of Graduate Nursing. All of our colleges are focused on health care. At the College of Graduate nursing, we offer two degrees, a Doctor of Nursing Practice and a Master of Science in Nursing, and we produce nurses who are practice ready and ready to enter into care of the patients.
Yvette Walker
I understand there's also been a nursing shortage. Tell us how that has happened.
Dr. Mary Lopez
There's a huge nursing shortage in America today, and especially in California, and the reason why is in the state of California, we are the most populous state within the nation, and that means we need more nurses than ever. According to the California Board of Registered Nursing, the state is projected to need about 40,000 more nurses this year, and the nursing schools within the state can't hold the demand. And so there's more and more pressure on nursing schools to produce more and more nurses. So one of the things that Western U has done is to expand the number of nurses that it graduates. And so now at Western U we went from graduating only 70 nurses every year to graduating over 100 and so we are continually putting nurses out into the community to meet the community's needs.
Yvette Walker
What can someone expect in your nursing program at Western University of Health Sciences.
Dr. Mary Lopez
In our pre-licensure program, we believe that a master's degree is entry into nursing, and not all nursing schools have that. So many nursing schools give an associate degree or a bachelor's degree as entry into nursing. We believe that a master's degree is needed, and the reason we think that is because we want practice ready nurses who have high qualifications to solve clinical problems and apply evidence based practice into their patient care. And they do this by taking research courses, community health courses and leadership courses. So when they graduate from our programs, not only do they give excellent patient care, but they also know how to lead interprofessional teams. And I think it's that leading interprofessional teams that really helps our nurses stand out above other nursing schools.
Yvette Walker
What do nurses earn today and what are the career prospects?
Dr. Mary Lopez
You know, because there's a huge nursing shortage, it's never been a better time to be a nurse. There are so many nursing positions out there now in a variety of specialties, whether you want to be a psych nurse, a med surg nurse, an ICU nurse, a community health nurse, a public health nurse. There are openings throughout Southern California for nurses now. So now is the time to enter into nursing, and you can get a lucrative salary. So California Board of Registered Nursing reports that the bottom salary for a bedside nurse today, a registered nurse, is $97,000 so it's a great entry into practice. It's a salary that should be able to sustain you, and then, of course, you're only going to grow from there. And we also have an education program for nurse practitioners. And so nurse practitioners earn about $150,000 a year. And nurse practitioners, of course, do primary care, where they take care of people, do assessments, diagnose, prescribe medications, and do follow up care. So either a registered nurse at the bedside or a nurse practitioner doing primary care, the field is wide open and ready for you.
Yvette Walker
How can a community help to contribute funding for nursing education?
Dr. Mary Lopez
I would love for the community to reach out to our legislators and state governor and all of the fundraisers in California to really promote workforce development. We used to have great nursing workforce development, but in the last couple of years, all the funding has been cut. And so if we could reach out to our legislators and government to say, please support nursing. Please increase the funds to develop the nursing workforce, because California needs them.
Yvette Walker
What is the preferred way for candidates that want to become a nurse to connect with Western University.
Dr. Mary Lopez
Well, we have our website and our admissions department. We would love for you to come on to our website, look to see what we do and contact our admissions department. The College of Graduate nursing also has a web page. Feel free to click on the faculty and staff and reach out to us personally. We also have something called preview days, and so our preview days, and one is coming up in November, we would love for people to come out and tour the campus, tour our simulation center, our nursing building, and come and talk to us and listen to what we can do with you to offer you a great career in nursing.
Yvette Walker
Thank you so much for sharing your work and the opportunities that exist for the future of health care.
Dr. Mary Lopez
Dr. Lopez, thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure.
Yvette Walker
Join us again next week for IE Latino Voices. You can find this story and others on our website at KVCRnews.org/IELatinoVoices. IE Latino Voices is produced by KVCR Public Media and is funded by generous support from San Antonio Regional Hospital. Here for life. For KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker.
