Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1475102
37 NURSING SPOTLIGHT HCA to open 8th nursing school with Galen By Erica Carbajal N ashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare plans to open its eighth nursing education campus in part- nership with Galen College of Nursing. The Asheville, N.C., campus is slated to open in Septem- ber. St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Galen College of Nursing joined HCA in January 2020. With the opening of the newest campus, Galen will have 13 campus locations and is expecting its enrollment total to reach 10,000 this year. About 1,900 HCA employees are enrolled at Galen College of Nursing, according to a June 13 news release from Galen and HCA. The 183-hospital system employs more than 93,000 nurses. "Our partnership with Galen College of Nursing enhances our ability to care for our patients and support our nurses while helping to address the national nursing shortage," said Sam Hazen, CEO of HCA. "Nurses are the backbone of our organization, and we look forward to continuing to work with Galen to advance the practice of nursing and nursing education." Galen has opened seven other campuses in Florida, Ten- nessee, South Carolina, Virginia and Texas since joining HCA. n Sanford to hire more than 700 foreign nurses by 2025 By Mackenzie Bean S ioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford Health is planning to hire more than 700 internationally trained nurses over the next three years to work at the system's four major medical centers and several critical access hospitals, Chief Nursing Officer Erica DeBoer, RN, told Becker's June 15. As of June 15, Sanford had extended 860 job offers to nurses in the Philippines, Brazil, Canada and Mexico, among other countries. e health system is partnering with the international nursing agency Connetics USA for recruitment and onboarding support. e nurses will be employed directly by Sanford through an initial three-year contract, though the goal is to retain them for much longer, according to Ms. DeBoer. She said about 75 percent of the nurses Sanford leaders have interviewed are planning to come to the U.S. with their families. e system said it welcomed its first seven internationally trained nurses in May and plans to gradually onboard more small groups of nurses over the next three years. "We have them onboarded, and then we work with them on accul- turation, because as you can imagine, there is a big transition that happens," Ms. DeBoer said. Sanford covers housing for nurses during their first few months in the country and has developed a program to help them navigate tasks such as setting up bank accounts and cellphones and connecting children with schools. "As they join our communities, we want to wrap our arms around them and help them understand the importance of our resources," Ms. DeBoer said. "We are trying to be incredibly intentional." n Jefferson Health boosts staffing flexibility with 'Nursing SEAL Team' By Mackenzie Bean P hiladelphia-based Jefferson Health is aiming to give nurses more flexibility with where they work through a new "Nursing SEAL Team," the health system said July 6. More than two dozen registered nurses are currently on the SEAL Team, which stands for service, excellence, advocacy and leadership. Participating nurses are deployed to various acute care locations based on anticipated staffing needs for medical/surgical, telemetry, progressive care and intensive care units. Nurses can choose whether they'd like to work across multiple divisions, states or across the system's entire footprint. At present, more than 20 percent of these nurses float across the entire 18-hospital system. Jefferson Health launched the initiative in June and said it plans to add more positions in response to increased interest from internal and external nurses. "This innovative approach to nurse staffing is a game changer for Jefferson patients," Daniel Hudson, MSN, RN, vice president of nursing administration and operations for Jefferson Health, said in a news release. "We are building this SEAL team by paying them competitively and giving them something they really desire — a different work experience on any given day." n