An IT analyst and project manager. A high school chemistry teacher. A private pilot. They come from various career paths, but now share similar futures. This week, after a one-year intensive degree program, they will cross UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 commencement stage prepared to enter the workforce in a different role 麻豆精品 S� as nurses.
The three are among 68 students graduating from UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 College of Nursing accelerated second degree bachelor 麻豆精品 S檚 in nursing (BSN) program, designed to expedite career changers who already hold bachelor 麻豆精品 S檚 degrees in a different field.
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In the four-semester program, designed to fast-track qualified, high-performing students into the profession (admitted students have an average 3.6 GPA), students take the same number of clinical hours and lab classes as their counterparts in the traditional BSN program.
Without efforts 麻豆精品 S� such as UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 accelerated program 麻豆精品 S� to increase the number of individuals in this profession, there may be a national shortage of 200,000 to 450,000 nurses by 2025, according to a report from McKinsey & Company. In just the last three years, more than 200 career changers have graduated from UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 program and helped fill the critical need for nurses.
Inspired by the Front Line
COVID-19 played a key role for the , who initially submitted their applications in January 2021.
麻豆精品 S淚t was still a scary and challenging time, 麻豆精品 S� says Yasin who comes from a family of nurses.
Yasin has two degrees in health informatics and spent five years working for a consulting company. On his first day on the job, a close friend and co-worker was severely injured in an accident caused by a drunk driver.
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But the deciding factor for his career change was the pandemic.
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After graduation, Yasin has accepted a job with AdventHealth Orlando in the ICU.
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These transferable skills apply to anyone thinking about switching careers to nursing, adds Yasin.
麻豆精品 S淣o matter your background, those skills are valuable, and your previous bachelor 麻豆精品 S檚 degree will be useful, 麻豆精品 S� he says.
Pivoting a Passion to Help Others
麻豆精品 S淣ursing is all of the things I loved about education, teaching and helping others, but more direct care, 麻豆精品 S� says Proebe Yba帽ez, 28, a former high school chemistry teacher who taught in an underserved community after initially obtaining a biology degree.
As a teacher, she was saddened to see her students miss school due to healthcare barriers, challenges she knows firsthand coming from a large immigrant family with nine siblings. The teacher of the year wanted to do more to help.
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Yba帽ez has also accepted a position at AdventHealth Orlando, but in a progressive care unit, and plans to eventually become a nurse practitioner. 麻豆精品 S淚 feel like I 麻豆精品 S檝e found my purpose to give back to, and advocate for, low-income communities, 麻豆精品 S� she says.
Flying into a Fast-pace Career
For Jenifer Schuman, a 2020 aerospace physiology graduate having held a private pilot 麻豆精品 S檚 license, her initial career plans were put on hold due to pandemic-related hiring freezes.
麻豆精品 S淚t caused me to take a step back and evaluate what I enjoyed most, 麻豆精品 S� she says.
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That passion is in emergency care. After graduation, Schuman has accepted a position as an emergency department nurse at Orlando Regional Medical Center. Her eventual goal is to become a flight nurse, where she can apply her aviation knowledge to nursing.
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National Support to Fuel Shortage
Schuman, Yba帽ez and four other Summer 2022 accelerated graduates received national support to make the career change to nursing. The Helene Fuld Health Trust scholarship is an exclusive opportunity for accelerated second degree BSN students who may not otherwise qualify for financial aid.
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UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 accelerated second degree BSN program is just one way UCF is working to combat the nursing shortage. Last month, plans were approved to begin construction on a new College of Nursing building at the UCF Academic Health Sciences Campus in Lake Nona.
The new building will almost double the existing square footage from its current location in Research Park and provide expanded space for its Simulation, Technology, Innovation & Modeling (STIM) Center 麻豆精品 S� which UCF recently received an international endorsement for. It will also enable UCF to enroll and graduate even more nurses into the workforce and more nursing faculty to educate future generations.
