NEMCC program helps meet future demand for nurses

The Associate Degree Nursing program gives students hands on experience

BOONEVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – A current nursing shortage in the state and the nation doesn’t show many signs of improvement. But future nurses and healthcare professionals are getting some hands-on learning through a program at Northeast Mississippi Community College in Booneville.

Rayanne Huskey was in the clinical simulation lab at NEMCC.

The lab, with life-like mannequins, allows Rayanne, and other students in the Associate Degree Nursing program to learn how to administer medications through an IV, clean wounds, and other real-life skills.

Huskey is in her first semester and said the program is tough but teaches perseverance and responsibility.

“I think the hardest part about the nursing program is having to change your lifestyle so much, it’s a big adjustment because you go from being able to do things you enjoy, like go out with friends, to putting in time to study.  You have to change your perspective, for me it was having to change my perspective from having to go to school, to having the opportunity to get to go to class,” Huskey said.

Melissa Morgan is an instructor in the program and said she is able to take her years of experience as a nurse to help students like Rayanne, who want to make a difference, helping others.

“I love teaching, it’s one of the most rewarding things outside of nursing, you have the best of both worlds in my take, I love teaching, seeing how dots connect with the student, when you take them into the clinic, when they put things together, when they see what they’ve learned in the classroom and how it flows over to the care they provide in the hospital, and it keeps me by the bedside taking care of patients which is my first love too,” Dr. Morgan said.

Huskey said she is looking forward to the next two years, and being able to fulfill a longtime goal.

“I had to take care of people at a very young age, and I’ve always had a passion for doing that, at first I thought I was going to fulfill that passion through fitness, but I feel like the Lord has led me to the ADN program,” Huskey said.

There are many factors driving the nursing shortage, and that’s why it’s critical to have more students, especially younger ones, in nursing programs like the one at NEMCC to meet the demands of an aging population.

Students are able to visit local hospitals and doctor’s offices for their clinicals. The program is very competitive, but students have jobs waiting for them after graduation.

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