CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Krislyn Foster hits the books at Webster Hall. She said she hopes to go into acute-care nursing.
Nursing school blues
UH lacks the funds to grow
its accelerated program in the
midst of a nursing shortage
Krislyn Foster had to leave her husband in Kona and put her life on hold for 15 months to join a University of Hawaii-Manoa accelerated nursing program.
"There is so much we had to give up, but it's worth it," she said, adding that her husband "was willing to sacrifice for a better future."
Foster is one of 10 students graduating from the concentrated program this month with a bachelor of science degree in nursing. The School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene will hold a recognition ceremony Dec. 20.
"It's just such an awesome program to have available for people who want to do it quickly, who are willing to put their lives aside for 15 months," Foster said.
Foster, 28, and her husband, Jes, 30, came to Hawaii from California on their honeymoon in 1999 and stayed.
She was doing odd jobs, juggling four at one time, she said. "I knew I needed to do something differently. I had always loved nursing; I always loved people."
Foster thought she might go to medical school after earning a bachelor of science degree in biology from the University of California, San Diego, in 1997. "But I decided that wasn't for me right now."
She enrolled in UH-Manoa's regular bachelor of science nursing program, explaining it was a difficult decision to make a three-year commitment but she was willing to do it.
Then, two weeks before classes began, a counselor asked if she was interested in an accelerated nursing program that was just starting, she said.
"So I jumped on it -- 15 months vs. three years."
Joanne Itano, Department of Nursing chairwoman, said the accelerated program -- compressing a three-year curriculum into 15 months -- began with 10 students and all are graduating. About 30 students in the regular three-year bachelor of science nursing program also are earning degrees.
More than 100 people inquired about the accelerated program when it was announced for students with degrees in other fields, Itano said, but UH-Manoa funded it only as a one-time pilot program. She said the school is applying for federal grants and looking at other sources to continue the program.
The school is turning away qualified applicants for the three-year program because it doesn't have funding to expand the 41 faculty positions, Itano said. There is also a national shortage of nursing faculty, she pointed out.
The school had 186 applications for fall classes. Of those, 114 qualified, but only 40 could be accepted, plus 10 native Hawaiians funded by the Queen's Medical Center, she said.
The school accepted 30 undergraduate students for the spring semester and turned down another 83 who were qualified out of a total 143 applications.
"It's causing a lot of distress," said Julie Johnson, dean of the School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene.
Establishment of a Hawaii State Center for Nursing to address nursing work force issues recently was approved by the UH Board of Regents. The last Legislature passed a bill authorizing the center and Gov. Linda Lingle signed it.
Johnson said the center will have authority to look at issues directly affecting the nursing shortage in Hawaii. With nurses, teachers and administrators retiring from the work force, she said, "To keep up with the demand will be a challenge."
The center will have an executive director, two staff positions and an advisory board with broad representation from the business, labor and nursing professions.
A special fee assessed for nurses' licenses will go into a center fund. An estimated $50,000 to $60,000 is expected to be raised through June 30, 2005, and funding is expected to increase to $300,000 a year from June 30, 2005, to June 30, 2009.
Foster said she spent a year completing prerequisites to qualify for the accelerated program, which she was able to do in Kona.
But she had to get an apartment in Honolulu for 15 months while her husband remained in Kona, where he works at the Four Seasons Resort.
"Nursing is definitely a good career," she said, "but it's a very difficult 15 months and you have to be dedicated. You have to be self-motivated and determined that you want to do it. You really give up your life, you give up any outside fun, for 15 months.
"You get lonely over here," she added. "I thought I'd be able to come home a lot, but no way. ... The program has been very busy. But it's 100 percent worth it. ... I don't know if I could do this for three years."
Foster is interested in doing acute-care nursing in a hospital but said she's keeping her options open. "There are definitely positions out there. It's a wonderful feeling to have the right career."
She's also thinking of "opening more doors" for herself by pursuing a master's degree in nursing, starting this fall in a UH outreach program in Kona.
