Courtesy of Pat Recek, Vocational Nursing Program of Austin Community College	More NurseWeek Features   Smoke-Free Zone   Nurses and patients tackle nicotine addiction   Bloodless Survival     Surgical techniques to use when transfusion drops out of the equation
Taheeran Berry, along with other seventh- and eighth-grade students, attended a daylong session at the nursing academy, a program intended to raise children’s awareness and interest in nursing. Luz Salcedo is a vocational nursing student.

Austin, Texas – Jennifer Nordhauser, an eighth-grader at St. Stephens Episcopal School in Austin, had never heard of the national shortage of nurses. But the 13-year-old, along with other students who attended a daylong session at the Nursing Academy of Austin Community College, appears ready to do something about it.

Seeing how “really cool” it was to move stitches from a medical mannequin, Nordhauser has cemented her interest in nursing as a career. So has ninth-grader Bernice Velazquez, who plans to study nursing through the doctorate level when she gets to college, inspired by the glimpse the Nursing Academy gave her into the world of nursing.

“They gave us a lot of information,” said Velazquez, who participated in the June 24 academy and plans to attend a new health sciences academy at Lanier High School in Austin next year. “I really liked the activities. They had a hand with different tubes in the veins and we put medication in, and another one with staples and stitches we got to take out.”

This is exactly the kind of excitement organizers of the event would like to generate.

The nursing academy is a joint effort of Austin Community College’s nursing program, the University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing, St. David’s Medical Center, Seton Medical Center, The Heart Hospital of Austin, Central Texas Medical Center, Capital Area Health Education Center, and Capital Area Training Foundation.

The academy’s focus is on seventh- and eighth-grade students, “because research shows that at this level, girls are making decisions not to go into math and science because it is too challenging and not cool,” said Lynn Heimerl, senior program coordinator at Capital Area Health Education Center.

Heimerl works with students of all ages with an interest in the health care professions, and with students in communities designated as medically underserved or where the health care workforce does not reflect the diversity of the community.

“It also gives them a heads up as to what is going to be required down the road when they apply for nursing school,” Heimerl said. “It is our goal to put nursing in the same position as medical school is now. We want to recruit the best and the brightest, and want nursing to be everyone’s No.1 choice. The huge plus about the shortage is that pay has gone up dramatically and there are sign-on bonuses.”

The nursing academy offers an opportunity to pass on information like that to young people early enough that they can benefit from it.

The idea originated with Bonnie Clipper-Salzberg, RN, MBA, MA, chief nursing officer at St. David’s Medical Center. She was trying to think of ways to get young people into nursing.

“We used to do tours and let [students] walk around the hospital and look at the units,” she said, “but they thought that was kind of boring. I thought of a camp or immersion concept, something exciting and fun. It makes a very strong impression on them.”

She acknowledges that it will take a few years to see some return on the academy’s efforts, but believes that the experience will encourage some of the participants to go into nursing. Participants leave with a “goodie” bag of things to remind them of nursing and information such as websites to keep them interested.