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Show Nurse Education Meeting Topic Future education requirements for nurses in Utah will be the topic of discussion at a public meeting set for Thursday, July 17 at the senior citizens center at the courthouse in Panguitch. Discussion will focus on the proposal to require a four-yecr college education for those pursuing a career as a registered nurse. Supporting the proposal will be Ann Petersen, RN who has a masters degree in education and who heads the Utah State Board of Nursing. Shortages of nurses and limited economic factors a few decades ago forced educators and lawmakers to make a change in requirements for RNs which, up until that time, had included bachelors degree. Changes at that time resulted in RNs with a two-year "technical nursing" certificate and a four-vear "professional nursing" certificate. Since that time, the two-year programs have graduated the greatest number of nurses, with the three-year and four-year programs producing fewer graduates respectively. The three-year programs have been traditionally sponsored by hospitals and the four and five-year programs by colleges. Paul Arnstein, director of nursing at Garfield Memorial Hospital in Panguitch, recently sat on a task force to identify c'lfferences in compentencies between the proposed two-year "Associate Nurse" and the four-year "Registered Nurse" programs. He states, "the differences are negligible, but the impact is tremendous. "No longer will we ha"Q LPNs who play a vital roi in 01 'tals. Maybe the 'Associate Nurse' will be allowed to practice as our current RNs do, but a lot of legal and accreditation ac-creditation standards will have to change," Arnstein said. "More importantly," he asked, "what will that do to our dwindling supply of RNs? Will we be able to train, recruit, or import from other states or countries enough nurses to meet our staffing requirements?" Arnstein pointed out that anyone thinking of becoming a nurse, anyone who currently is a nurse, and those concerned about future nursing nur-sing issues should plan to attend Thursday's meeting in Panguitch. The public discussion will provide an opportunity to voice concerns about the four-year entry level issues which he believes can have critical potential for nursing in Utah. |