There is a new program director for the associate degree in nursing (ADN) program on the East Liverpool Campus: Dr. Carol J. Hrusovsky.
Hrusovsky, or Dr. H as she likes to be called, has a great deal of experience with nursing education and she said she has her eyes set on growing the East Liverpool Campus program.
“I’m focusing on future nurses, because that’s where my passion is,” she said. “There is a shortage of nurses across the country and we can help fill those voids.”
Explaining that her passion for training future nurses is really two-fold, Hrusovsky noted that she has been in the shoes that many of the students wear.
“When I was training to be a nurse, I had to work fulltime and go to school to get my diploma, so I’ve been there. I understand how hard it can be,” she said. “But, we have an obligation to make it possible for others to get those diplomas, too.”
Her passion for future nurses, again, is two-fold:
“First,” she explained, “I’m passionate about being part of growing and educating future nurses, but especially to be safe practitioners of nursing by providing them with a high-quality education.
“Secondly, I am passionate about student success. I want our nurses to be the best nurses entering the profession. This degree will change lives, especially their lives.”
Most recently, Hrusovsky was the associate provost at Hondros College of Nursing in Westerville, where she also had served as dean of post-licensure programs, director of the RN-BSN program, associate dean and a member of the nursing faculty. Earlier, she was the director of nursing for the Independence Campus of Hondros College.
Hrusovsky also taught for American Sentinel University in Aurora, Colo.; served as the director of nursing for American Career College in Irvine, Calif.; was the central regional dean of nursing for Education Affiliates in Baltimore; was the director of nursing at Fortis College in Norfolk, Va.,; and was a fulltime faculty member at ATS Institute of Technology in Highland Heights, Ohio, and Lorain County Community College in Elyria.
Hrusovsky graduated from the Akron General Medical Center School of Nursing before earning a Bachelor of Science in nursing from Ursuline College. She then received a master’s in nursing education from the University of Phoenix and a doctorate of nursing practice with an emphasis in executive leadership from American Sentinel University.
She also served as the director of education at Kethley House at Benjamin Rose Institute in Cleveland and as the clinical instructor and nursing assistant orientation coordinator at the Menorah Park Center for the Aged in Beachwood, Ohio.
Hrusovsky cited a report from the Center for Health Affairs that indicated that the number of registered nurses in Northeast Ohio continues to grow, but not fast enough to satisfy the need.
The median age of RNs in this region is 47 years. Also noteworthy is that 70 percent of registered nurses in this region are 36 to 65 years old.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing developed a fact sheet that addresses the national shortage of registered nurses (www.aacnnursing.org/news-information/nursing-shortage). It states:
Current and Projected Shortage Indicators
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Employment Projections for 2014-2024 lists registered nursing among the top occupations for job growth. The RN workforce is expected to increase by 439,300 nurses and that another 649,100 replacement nurses will be needed in the workforce by 2024, making the total number of job openings at about 1.09 million.
- The January 2012 issue of the American Journal of Medical Quality included an article, “United States Registered Nurse Workforce Report Card and Shortage Forecast,” whose authors forecast the RN shortage to be “most intense in the South and the West.”
Contributing Factors Impacting the Nursing Shortage
- “Nursing school enrollment is not growing fast enough to meet the projected demand for RN and APRN (advanced practice registered nurse) services.”
- “A shortage of nursing school faculty is restricting nursing program enrollments.”
- “A significant segment of the nursing workforce is nearing retirement age.”
- “Changing demographics signal a need for more nurses to care for our aging population.”
- “High nurse retirement and turnover rates are affecting access to healthcare.”