REGENIA: Welcome to The Heart of Health and Science. Today, we're talking with someone who has a direct connection to getting into nursing right here in Liberty, Missouri. Before we go into that conversation, I want to remind everyone that I, too, am a nurse. My passion is nursing. I've been a registered nurse for more than 30 years.

My passion for nursing started long, long ago. It goes far beyond helping people. When I was able to go into leadership with nursing, I wanted to bridge the gap between the nurses taking care of the patients at the bedside and those making the decisions in the corporate offices.

I wanted to be the bridge in between. So, I kept going back to school to learn as much as possible about the business side, leadership, how to help nurses grow, how to make nurses and nursing flourish and how to make people want to come into the field and remain there.

Today’s podcast will be all about that and more. I want to introduce our guest, Leesa McBroom, who comes to us from the William Jewell College of Nursing. Leesa, tell us a little bit about yourself and your background in nursing.

LEESA: Well, I'm really excited to be here, Regenia. Thank you. I didn't think I wanted to be a nurse when I was younger. My mother died from breast cancer, and I was not interested in being a nurse. But, as you said, you have passion and a calling to care for people. I went back to school, became a nurse, and moved to Kansas City from California. And I have loved it ever since. I've been here over 24 years. I guess I'm a native now.

I started in the ICU and cath lab and decided I wanted to make a difference in people's lives, more than just seeing them during their ICU stay. I became a family nurse practitioner, which I did for about a year. Then, nursing education found me, and I found it. And it's been a real blessing to influence nurses who will be in the field.

REGENIA: I didn't know a lot of that, actually. I didn't know about your mom. So sorry about that. I've heard so many stories about how people watched a loved one go through a chronic illness or an acute illness, and that either turned them towards nursing or as far away from it as possible because it was just too personally painful for them. I love that you were able to turn that tragedy into something that would help future generations. I love that. I also didn't realize you were a nurse practitioner.

LEESA: I practice one day a week. It's really important for me personally because if I'm teaching, I want to make sure my hands are in it. My students know that I know what I'm doing. And, you know, I was glad to be part of the pandemic to help my students understand what was happening.

REGENIA: The pandemic changed us, didn't it? It changed the face of nursing. It changed what it looks like. The foundation and the fundamentals of nursing have changed a little bit. I'm really glad you're here with us. The pandemic fundamentally changed nursing, but did it alter the type of people entering the profession, or does the foundation of nursing remain the same? And you could speak to that through your ties to William Jewell.

LEESA: Yes. I think COVID initially gave nursing schools a bump because everybody heard the call and came. And we ask every student, why do you want to be a nurse? And a lot of them say exactly what you said, that they had a family member or friend. The nurses around them were so amazing, they wanted to be one, and that's really exciting. Right now, the issues that are going on in nursing are coming from a backlash from COVID. We've had a lot of negativity, especially on social media, about how hard the job is, and not really focusing on how great the job is.

It's great to walk into a patient's room and help them solve a problem or help them get better health and walk out in a much better place. That's what ignites students to be nurses, and that's what we want to tap into. So the skills—yes, there are all these baseline skills. And we can help them grow, especially in their critical thinking skills. Right now, I think nursing is suffering because there are not enough students and nurses.

REGENIA: Right? I read an article yesterday about the shortage of nurses and why there is such a shortage. And here we are, it's been predicted since the '80s, in the '90s, and in the early 2000s. We have one generation of nurses nearing retirement who are staying a little longer or retiring early. We're going to lose thousands and thousands of nurses from the workforce. And then we have a generation coming up that practices a bit differently. Not better, not worse, just differently. And that's transforming healthcare because of how nurses come in and practice.

Then, we have a shortage of people coming into nursing. According to this article, some parts of the country are based on a shortage of instructors in nursing schools, and many reasons are associated with that. But here, we have phenomenal schools. We have amazing instructors and a pipeline that allows people to go into nursing with financial support, emotional support, and support with studying. Can you talk a little about what William Jewell can do and what Liberty Hospital and William Jewell are doing together?

LEESA: We're doing some amazing work. One good thing about the pandemic is that we've decided we need more partnerships to figure out how to get people through these pipelines and progress them from CNA, LPN, R.N. to graduate-level nurse practitioner, midwives, or nurse status.

It's really a pipeline. Nursing is really a growth field. One of the things that Liberty Hospital, Liberty Public Schools, and William Jewell came together for is offering seniors the opportunity to be part of a collegiate nursing academy. What that is, William Jewell students taking courses to learn basic nursing skills.

They can become a patient care tech, learn the basic skills of a certified nursing assistant, those kinds of things. Then, they go to Liberty Hospital to do all their clinicals. And we have an amazing faculty member who's on both sides and really helps those students. We celebrated 21 students last year for our inaugural year.

Those students who come to Jewell get a scholarship for four years. We had four of them come to Jewell, which was really exciting. Most of the other ones decided to go to school. Most, I think all of them, will be in some kind of health care, probably nursing, at different levels.

They're going to go to community college, and they're going to go straight to a four-year college. They're doing different things, which is really exciting to be able to give them the opportunity and the understanding. And they can use this job to work through school if they choose. Liberty Hospital also offered interviews to all of those students.

One or two students out of that program are working at Liberty Hospital now, which is really nice.

REGENIA: We have people in nursing leadership who graduated from William Jewell. In fact, one of our first guests on the podcast was from William Jewell, and he talks about how much he learned. I was talking with him about theory, the different nursing theories, and the theories they bring to the field. And, he said, oh, you mean like...and then he rattled off the theorists and exactly what they did and what they contributed to the field.

Everyone in the room turned and looked at him. He said, "I went to William Jewell. I know these things. Ask me something else." He said it was such a cool moment. William Jewell students are really getting so much with their degrees, education, and experience.

We have so many great schools right around this area. Can you briefly discuss the differences between an associate's degree, a bachelor's degree, a BSN, or a Master of Science in nursing? And onward, there are some differences. One of the big pushbacks I receive from people with an associate's degree is that they aren't sure they want to go back and earn their BSN. What do you think? Is there really a difference between those two? Why would they want to do that?

LEESA: We've got some phenomenal ADN programs here, and we are working with a lot of them in the city. Those students bring so much more to the classroom when they come to the BSN level because they have so much experience. Those schools and programs really focus on skills and learning nursing. Baccalaureate degrees, you're looking at levels that will be higher thinking, with community thinking, learning how to take care of populations, those kinds of things. And also a big focus on leadership. At the master's level, you're looking at an advanced practice level, which would be nurse practitioner, midwife, nurse anesthetist. Now, we're moving into doctorate levels, a doctorate level nurse practitioner, a doctorate level leader, and a PhD for research.

There is just so much within the field of nursing. You can go into these various degrees. Once you have the first degree, you can go into many different areas. You can be in a hospital in long-term care. You can be in a mental health facility. You can be in a lawyer's office.

That's what I love about nursing, especially the BSN. It's a generalist degree. You're going to get pediatrics. You're going to get OB. You're going to get mental health, which is so important.

All the basics you need, leadership skills, those kinds of things. And then what I love about nursing is that I've seen time and time again that an RN may say, I'm ready to get out of ICU. They decide they want to go to labor and delivery. They can do that because they have that baseline degree with the knowledge, critical thinking skills, and everything they need to move to a different specialty if they decide to do so.

REGENIA: Can you talk a little bit about the program that William Jewell and Liberty Hospital are working on together?

LEESA: Well, I really appreciate our relationship with Liberty Hospital. It is very nice because we have clinical instructors dedicated to nursing education. One of them is a William Jewell nurse; actually, two of them are.

Having a nurse educator who is also an employee who's part of the culture and can bring students in is important because they can offer so much more than if I had a nursing instructor coming in.

We have a unique partnership with Liberty Hospital. Not many hospitals in the area are doing clinical instructor partnerships with a school. In fact, other hospitals may mimic what you've got and what you've done because it's been so successful.

First, I appreciate that two of your instructors are William Jewell College nursing students. The fact that these nursing students or instructors are in hospital culture means they know the people and how the system works. They bring in the students and give them a much more robust experience.

And that's been really helpful for all of our students. Another thing that Liberty Hospital and William Jewell are doing is an accelerated track process scholarship. You can go the traditional route or the transfer route. Many people out there may have wanted to be nurses when they went to school the first time, or they're out there, and they are thinking, hey, I want to be a nurse. I want to do something more. I want to give back. I want to care.

We’ve got a track called Accelerated Track, and that's for students who have a bachelor's degree in something else, have worked in another field, and have decided to come back to school to be nurses.

And I'm telling you, we've had retired nurses, exercise physiologists, biologists, vets—a variety—and they bring such robust and rich conversations to the classroom and nursing. Liberty Hospital has worked with us on a partnership. Our accelerated track is a 12-month program—a bachelor's degree in 12 months.

It's been very successful. We've had a 100% pass rate two years in a row, just to brag about that. But you can be a nurse in 12 months? Absolutely, you can.

There's a scholarship, and you'll be able to do a lot of your clinicals at Liberty Hospital, getting you prepped, and then you'll work for Liberty. And then there's the scholarship from Liberty, which really cuts the price of the program.

It's really important in this day and age that we try to figure out how to help students pay for this exceptional education.

REGENIA: There are different ways that organizations are trying to speak to the cost of education and earning a nursing degree. I worked at a hospital with a loan forgiveness program: every three years they worked, they would pay X amount of dollars towards their loan, which was great.

It was great, but didn't encourage people to enter the field because the initial cost was still a deterrent. I like the way we've been able to do that here. We're helping offset the cost initially, so it's not a hardship for people's lives, livelihoods and families. It's not so much of a hardship because the help is at the beginning.

And then a guaranteed job is at the end. It's amazing how many people go into a college or university setting to earn a degree, wondering what they will do. Are they going to be able to find a job? But not here. Not with this program.

When they go through the program, they know they have a job and have done their clinical time. They've already spent time in the hospital. It’s different than going to a place for the very first time. It's just returning in a different capacity.

LEESA: What's great about it is students are offered any field they want. Our students are going into OB, emergency, ICU, med surg, ortho, and surgery, and there's a big need. Surgery, you know, is very unique. When I was in school, I didn't have a job when I graduated. It took a lot of work, and I didn't get to work where I wanted to, but I came to Kansas City and ended up working in the ICU. But the market is so great, and the opportunities are just amazing right now.

REGENIA: They really are. When I went to school, I lived in West Virginia and went to West Virginia University. Go Mountaineers! Then, I married into the military. The day after graduation, we moved to South Dakota. I didn't know anyone in South Dakota. I still needed to take boards, you know. I left school and moved, and then I had to find where the boards were located so I could sit and take them.

I didn't come out of school with a guaranteed job. Of course, I moved, which was different, but I had to search. And at that time, the shortage was less severe than it is now.

It was a different time. Now is a perfect time to go into nursing. If there's anything in someone that makes them think they'd want to look into a nursing career, now is the time.

LEESA: Absolutely. I encourage anybody to call the school and talk to someone in nursing admissions. We have a nursing student liaison, and currently, we are developing a program with Liberty Public Schools that will offer an early college option with direct entry into nursing. Students will be able to complete all of their prerequisites.

The state of Missouri has an impressive initiative where they fund two years of college for students while they are still in high school. If students finish their two years, they can start nursing school in the first year of college. Can you believe that? If they don't, if they get the prerequisites, there's just one more year. They can be done in three years, and I think we've got to really work hard together as partners and look at this workforce and figure out how we can drop down some of these barriers, silos, preconceived notions and let those go so that we can bring more people into nursing because it changes lives.

REGENIA: It changes so many lives. I met with someone yesterday, and we were talking about nursing and its impact. I said, "You know, at one point, I sat down and did the math. Every nurse who takes care of just five patients during their shift, if they work 72 hours a pay period, takes care of five patients a day for three days a week, three 12-hour shifts a week. That's 15 patients minimum."

And then there's the family and the visitors who witness this. Then, all the people they tell and encourage them to come in and have the same experience, should they need to. If you do the math very simplistically, you reach thousands a year by coming to work and taking care of people. It's remarkable the outreach that a nurse has.

LEESA: Not only that, but as a nurse educator, you’re influencing all these students, and those students are going out into the community. And then, as CNO, too, you’re influencing all the families and patients in our community.

REGENIA: Yes, I take it very seriously that every decision I make in this role is incredibly important and ultimately impacts lives. Which is not to be taken lightly at all.

Now, I want to bring us to our final question of the day, and it's my favorite question. Could you share your favorite story that highlights your experience in nursing education?

LEESA: Oh, dear. Well, I've been in education for 21 years. One favorite story would be hard.

Two things really excite me: when I'm at pinning and I see siblings come back to pin their other siblings. We had a sister who came to our accelerated track, her brother came, and then her second brother came to the traditional track.

To see those two pin him was really amazing. And we've got stories after stories of moms or grandmothers pinning their daughters. But the biggest thing that makes me excited and passionate about this is that I see single parents, moms, and dads who have kids at home and are trying to make a better life for themselves, which makes a difference.

REGENIA: Wow, what a great story. How can you not want to go into healthcare after hearing these kinds of stories and seeing the difference that's being made in families? It is truly moving. I want to thank you, Leesa, for coming and sharing some of your knowledge and experience with us and helping encourage people to go into healthcare and nursing, specifically today. Thank you so much.

And thank you for joining us for this episode. Until next time. To discover new episodes or explore career opportunities and more, visit us at The Heart of Health and Science.