Tina Holland, president and CEO of Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University, is the first to admit that, along with other nursing schools in the area, her institution—which graduates anywhere from 300 to 400 undergraduate nursing students per year—won’t be able to fill Baton Rouge’s nursing shortage this year, or the next.
But the school’s overall headcount of roughly 1,400 students, says Holland, isn’t as nearly as important as the “shape” of its enrollment; in other words, the academic strength of the students, the diversity of programs they’re enrolled in and whether FranU is able to meet their needs.
“When I was there many years ago, enrollment was closer to 1,800, but the retention rate was abysmal,” Holland says, noting the school’s current retention rate is around 90%. “I only want our shape to be as big as it needs to be to meet the needs of our community.”
Shapeshifting isn’t new for the institution, which will celebrate its centennial in 2023. At one point, FranU’s “shape” was largely formed by undergraduate nursing students. However, once the school recognized a need for nurses to move up in their careers, a graduate nursing program was introduced. Then, when school leaders saw a need for more allied health professionals, such a program was born, and, similarly, as demand for respiratory therapists grew during the pandemic, FranU expanded its existing associate’s degree program and added a bachelor’s degree program for respiratory therapy.
But despite these efforts, a nursing shortage persists in the Baton Rouge area. So much so that Baton Rouge’s major hospitals are upping the ante on their recruitment and retention strategies.
In one case, Monica Nijoka, vice president and chief nursing officer at Baton Rouge General, says BRG is offering nurses sign-on bonuses of $20,000.
Read the full story about how the Baton Rouge medical sector is working to fill workforce gaps from the latest edition of Business Report. Send comments to editor@businessreport.com.
