Cindy Gonzalez
OMAHA — As thrilled as they are about a $114 million pediatric mental health care facility rising in Omaha, local health care officials expect challenges, including assembling the necessary workforce during the current nursing shortage.
Helping to address such demand is a new partnership between Children’s Nebraska and the Creighton University College of Nursing, which is designed to bring additional skilled pediatric nurses to the Children’s campus.
Buoyed by the Omaha-based Ryan Foundation, 40 full-tuition scholarships will be available in Creighton’s Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program. In exchange for the free schooling, recipients, who already must have a bachelor’s degree, will commit to two years of work at Children’s Nebraska.
Jessica Clark, dean of Creighton’s College of Nursing, said she’s talked to many professionals interested in pursuing nursing as a different career choice but who are deterred by cost, especially if mired in student debt. She says tuition and fees for the program run about $55,000. The new scholarship is designed to help break down the financial barrier.
Clark said the 12-month accelerated program — now in its 50th year — typically draws older students and professionals with more life experience.
“They make phenomenal workers when they hit the workforce,” she said.
Call to nursing
Marcie Peterson, vice president and associate chief nursing officer at Children’s, said she expects the initiative to produce nurses who “really have a calling to nursing.”
“What we find is they bring a lot of value to the workforce because of those experiences they already have and they know what they want,” Peterson said. She said they provide “a lot more bang for our buck.”
The scholarship idea emerged as various factors collided, Clark said, including the planned 2026 opening of the Behavioral Health & Wellness Center at the Children’s Omaha headquarters site. Of that facility’s total price tag, $16 million comes from federal American Rescue Plan Act funding earmarked by the Nebraska Legislature.
Meanwhile, a study by state health care entities showed Nebraska on pace to be short nearly 5,500 nurses this year. In the backdrop, Clark said, conversations with nurse wannabes working in other professions explained that the top barrier to a nursing career was financial.
Clark said she met with representatives at Children’s, who talked to the Ryan Foundation. They hoped for 10 scholarships — and received funding for 40.
Peterson and Clark expect that nurses who go through the program will stay at Children’s beyond the promised two-year commitment. Peterson said Children’s has a track record of high nurse retention rates.
She said that Children’s provides an environment to expand one’s career. Her own ascent is an example. Peterson started as a receptionist at Children’s right out of high school, 26 years ago. She entered nursing school and said in an interview this week that along the way to her current position she was helped by mentors and colleagues to reach her goals.
The scholarship program, beginning this fall and supporting five cohorts, will help students as they develop pediatric skills and prepare to serve in one of 89 pediatric subspecialties across multiple Children’s Nebraska facilities.
“We are building a workforce that is prepared to meet the evolving needs of children and families across our region,” said Pam Johnson-Carlson, senior vice president and chief nursing officer at Children’s. “This partnership ensures that highly skilled pediatric nurses will be ready to deliver exceptional care in both acute and specialized settings for years to come.”