CITY FOCUS:Hoag opens nursing facility

Recent nursing grad and new registered nurse Janay Petruna waited two years to get in the nursing program at Golden West College. She never dreamed of working anywhere other than Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian when she graduated.

Her wait is not unique. The nation is experiencing a major nursing shortage, with California ranking at the bottom in the fight for new nurses.

“It’s embarrassing and … disappointing” that the state is ranked 50th in the number of registered nurses per 100,000 people, said Rick Martin, Hoag’s senior vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer. To help recruit more people to the profession — and specifically to Hoag — the hospital recently celebrated the opening of its Marion Knott Nursing Education Center, which includes classrooms and high-tech training modalities. Students will get to test their knowledge in real-life situations using mannequins that can breathe, show a pulse and have gangrene. There are also shadowing programs for recent graduates.

Nursing education program manager Judy Bethe said nursing students can complete rotations at Hoag while staff nurses mentor them.

Hoag personnel believe that ending the shortage begins with quality education and teachers, whose numbers are also declining. Nursing programs are expensive to run and the average age of an instructor is close to retirement age, which adds to the shortage. For this reason, Hoag offers guest instructors, as well as its own continuing education program.

Hoag provides a grant for professors at Golden West, and its nursing students can do their clinical rotations at the Newport hospital. Numerous Golden West nursing graduates become new hires at Hoag.

“Hoag offers continuing education, and their commitment to patient care and commitment to educating is amazing,” Petruna said.

Despite some students possibly becoming discouraged because of the time they have to wait to get into nursing programs, the interest seems to be there, Martin said.

Petruna, of Huntington Beach, Newport Beach resident Ben Weed and Irvine resident Drew Motta endured waiting lists and taking unnecessary, though often helpful, courses while waiting.

Hoag is currently fully staffed with nurses, something Martin said was due to its ongoing relationship with local colleges, efforts to help students navigate their nursing school bills and by offering continuing education to nurses on staff.

“Talking to the staff and asking questions doesn’t make you feel stupid,” Weed said. “I don’t feel a big barrier between upper management and new graduates.”

Weed, Petruna and Motta are in the hospital’s emergency care unit program and split their time between classroom instruction, when they learn about Hoag procedures and policies and test their nursing skills in controlled settings, and shadowing nurse educators in the emergency room.

They recently had their first day to put their knowledge to the test in the emergency room, something they said was both exciting and nerve-racking, but it just felt right to take care of patients and watch them get better.

“It’s all part of the learning process, and it becomes easier,” Motta said. “It’s part of the job; it’s part of who you are.”

Martin hopes with the education center will come fresh faces in the nursing community.

Marion Knott gave the founding donation of $700,000 to get the center up and running, and the hospital has raised $4 million.

Hoag continues to need support to recruit quality nurses.

Martin also said people concerned should write to their legislators, who he said have not considered the shortage a priority.