Category: Healthcare

This article originally appeared in Fairfield University Magazine, the alumni magazine of Fairfield University.

Bryan Rivera ’25 was not born in Texas. But as the saying goes, he got here as fast as he could. It was a circuitous route, to be sure, as Rivera was born in Spain, raised in the Philippines, and schooled in Alaska. Today, he resides in Austin, Texas, and is a nursing major in Fairfield University’s Accelerated Second Degree Nursing (ASDNU) program.

More than halfway through his bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degree studies in the Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies, Rivera takes classes at Fairfield Egan’s state-of-the-art Austin, Texas campus. With graduation on the horizon, he looks forward to improving the lives of his fellow Texans.

“I enrolled in nursing school because I want to have an impact on my community,” said Rivera. “Fairfield’s nursing program, with its emphasis on compassionate care, will help me achieve that goal and become a competent and caring nurse who makes a difference.”

Fairfield Egan opened its Austin campus and launched its ASDNU program there in the summer of 2023. The 15-month program is designed for non-nursing baccalaureate degree holders who wish to pursue a second bachelor’s degree in nursing. The University led with that program because it provides the quickest means of sending BSN-prepared nurses into the workforce.

The ASDNU program was perfect for Rivera, who holds a bachelor of business administration degree in marketing and worked as an advocate for higher education for nearly a decade. After completing a few additional science prerequisites, he entered the program as a junior.

“The program is a great opportunity for people like me who are interested in nursing but pursued a different path with their initial degree,” he said. “It also fills an important gap in nursing education in the area.”

Austin is one of the fastest-growing cities in one of the fastest-growing states in the nation. Its unprecedented growth has transformed the once laid-back college town into a major metropolis. As with any city, population growth can strain resources. Such has been the case in Austin and the state of Texas, where the impact of domestic migration on the healthcare system has become especially obvious in recent years.

The demand for nurses in Texas is driven largely by the same factors as in other areas — aging populations, educational bottlenecks, occupational burnout, and workforce retirement — but is further amplified by regional growth. The year-over-year increase in new residents has caused and continues to cause a Texas-sized shortage of nurses. In fact, the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies projects a statewide deficit of more than 56,000 registered nurses by 2036.

For Connecticut-based Fairfield, the nursing shortage in Texas provided the impetus for an Austin campus. There was an urgent need for qualified nurses in the state, and the Egan School is nationally recognized for its expertise in nursing education. Geographical expansion into the Southwest offered an extraordinary opportunity for the mission-driven Jesuit university to reach a wider audience and to impact the health of a community and its residents.

Christopher Mangram ’25, a classmate of Rivera’s, is a native of Houston who traveled the world as a Navy corpsman. His experiences in the military compelled him to pursue a career in nursing. He discovered Fairfield Egan’s ASDNU program upon his return to Texas and immediately enrolled.

“I realized my calling during a Navy deployment to Southeast Asia, where I was sent for humanitarian purposes,” Mangram said. “I mostly conducted health screenings but also delivered a baby in Timor-Leste and taught neonatal resuscitation to midwives in Malaysia.”

Neither Mangram nor Rivera are typical nursing students. Both are male and have considerable life experience — two points that are not unrelated in nursing school. Greater life experience often means increased exposure to medical situations and awareness of the value of care providers. It can also make people less susceptible to stereotypical thinking about nurses and nursing.

It is therefore not surprising that Mangram, Rivera, and their fellow male nursing students represent 19 percent of their Austin cohort. That impressive figure well exceeds the national average of 12.8 percent for men in undergraduate nursing programs.

Because the ASDNU program is designed for non-traditional students, it tends to attract more diverse populations than traditional BSN programs. As such, it was the right program with which to launch the new Austin campus and to extend the University’s reach and impact.

Fairfield University was not founded in Texas, but it got here as fast as it could.

Fairfield University is a member of the Central Texas Healthcare Partnership. The partnership was founded in early 2018 under the leadership of three Central Texas healthcare industry leaders: Baylor Scott & White Health, Ascension Seton, and St. David’s HealthCare. Learn more about how the CTHP is leading workforce development in the Central Texas healthcare industry.

Workforce Solutions Capital Area partners with many local healthcare employers to train and hire the workforce for this key local industry. One of our partners is Fairfield University.

Fairfield University’s nationally ranked nursing school expanded into Austin in 2023 with its accelerated second degree nursing program. Gabby Kearney is among the first graduates of the 15-month program at the state-of-the-art campus on Shoal Creek Boulevard.

Gabby is currently an RN Resident in the Intermediate Care Unit at Dell Children’s Medical Center. She was offered the position after completing Ascension’s Student Nurse Intern Program there in her final semester at Fairfield.

She is delighted to share her experiences below.

How did your intern experience prepare you for your current position?

The Student Nurse Intern Program was an invaluable experience! I am so much farther ahead than other members of my cohort who didn’t have the same opportunity, and it has given me so much more confidence as a newly graduated nurse.

I have been able to take over full patient loads in my first 6 weeks of my orientation with minimal intervention from my preceptors because I have already had five months of experience on the unit and with my coworkers. The extra time on the unit has allowed me to build relationships with my coworkers and demonstrate my competencies that I have learned in nursing school and while on the unit during the SNI experience.

Building these relationships has allowed my coworkers to have more trust in me taking over care for their patients. By having a head start, I have been scheduled for more shifts in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and received exposure to higher acuity patients coming to our floor once they have stabilized. I would not have felt comfortable being in the PICU if I didn’t have the extra experience from SNI.

What aspects of your Fairfield education were most valuable?

I appreciate the diligence of my professors at Fairfield. They prepared me to be successful by regularly testing my critical thinking skills, which are the hardest skills to become proficient in as a new nurse. They also taught me how comorbidities of real life patients intertwine and complicate the basic pathophysiology taught in the textbook cases.

Most importantly, my professors taught me to always ask questions when something is not clear or doesn’t make sense, to advocate for my patients, and to never stop learning new information.

Fairfield University is a member of the Central Texas Healthcare Partnership. The partnership was founded in early 2018 under the leadership of three Central Texas healthcare industry leaders: Baylor Scott & White Health, Ascension Seton, and St. David’s HealthCare. Learn more about how the CTHP is leading workforce development in the Central Texas healthcare industry.

Workforce Solutions Capital Area partners with many local healthcare employers to train and hire the workforce for this key local industry. One of our partners is Concordia University. Here is a summary of Concordia’s recent activities with their nursing program… Senior level nursing students participated in a disaster simulation recently on Concordia’s main campus. The nursing program partnership with United Way is continuing with the nursing students completing hearing and vision screening for 214 preschool children so far this year. Nursing students participated in a medical mission trip to Alaska this summer. On the mission trip, the nursing students participated in:

• Assisting with mulching a community garden that serves as a program for refugees in the Anchorage area as a way to grow produce and sell at local farmer’s markets for income.
• Conducting a foot care clinic at a long-term homeless shelter for elderly and medically fragile individuals where we washed feet, did basic wound care, and checked vital signs.
• Worked in a food bank to pack shelf-stable food boxes for underserved families in the community. Students also went out and assisted with a drive-thru food pantry.
• Cooked dinner for residents at an at-risk youth homeless shelter and then provided education to the group on basic hygiene to maintain health.

Concordia University is a member of the Central Texas Healthcare Partnership. The partnership was founded in early 2018 under the leadership of three Central Texas healthcare industry leaders: Baylor Scott & White Health, Ascension Seton, and St. David’s HealthCare. Learn more about how the Central Texas Healthcare Partnership is leading workforce development in the Central Texas healthcare industry.

Workforce Solutions Capital Area partners with many local healthcare employers to train and hire the workforce for this key local industry. One of our partners is South University, Austin. Here is a summary of South University’s recent activities with their nursing program…

South University is a member of the Central Texas Healthcare Partnership. The partnership was founded in early 2018 under the leadership of three Central Texas healthcare industry leaders: Baylor Scott & White Health, Ascension Seton, and St. David’s HealthCare. Learn more about how the Central Texas Healthcare Partnership is leading workforce development in the Central Texas healthcare industry.

Workforce Solutions Capital Area partners with many local healthcare employers to train and hire the workforce for this key local industry. One of our partners is St. David’s HealthCare. Brady Snowden is a newly licensed Registered Nurse at St. David’s who recently graduated from the Advanced Student Experience program with Austin Community College. Here is Brady’s story:

You don’t have to know how it will all play out; you just have to trust your heart which never commands any doubt.

I chose to become a nurse because my family, friends, and health mean more to me than any riches or material success. When I made this decision, the odds were against me, and time was slipping away. Yet, I felt a significant fire burning in my heart. This fire illuminated a deep sense of happiness and certainty, instilling in me an unshakeable belief that by going to school, becoming a student, and committing myself to this goal through the desire to be of service, everything would fall into place.

Nursing school wasn’t easy, as anyone who has been through it or known someone who has will tell you. But what was easy was getting up every day, attending class, and then opening the books to learn and understand.

The obstacles I faced felt like pictures in an art gallery, passing by me. The only time I faltered was due to my own anxiety, but these setbacks were few, and my journey always moved forward.

Early in nursing school, I met someone who would become my best friend. He was a nurse extern at St. David’s HealthCare. I was immediately fascinated by the prospect of working in healthcare while still in school. Following his example, I became a nurse extern and experienced the gift of working in the medical field while learning how to become a nurse. This role exposed me to a variety of practices and specialties, helping me discover the direction I wanted to take when choosing my specialty.

As I approached my final semester, I learned about the Advanced Student Experience (ASE) program offered by St. David’s HealthCare. ASE allowed me to interview, get hired, and complete my last semester’s clinical hours on the job. I was ecstatic.

After writing an essay and interviewing with the team, I was offered the opportunity to work alongside one of the most driven and supportive teams I have ever known. I can’t imagine what my career would look like without this opportunity. The clinical experience provided by my school, or any school, couldn’t compare to the quality and autonomy I gained as a fully integrated team member, thanks to ASE. The skills I practiced, the support and direction I received from the team, were unparalleled compared to my previous experiences in nursing school.
Without nursing school, my commitment, and my burning desire, none of this would have been possible. However, without the Advanced Student Experience, I wouldn’t carry the excitement, enthusiasm, and confidence I now possess from my ability.

As I approach the end of St. David’s HealthCare Transition to Practice/New Grad Orientation, as an officially licensed RN, I can honestly say that today I feel what it is like to stand on my own feet. If it were not for the Advanced Student Experience, even with my desire and dedication, I cannot imagine feeling as confident and ready to begin the rest of my career as today I am being a new RN.

St. David’s HealthCare is a member of the Central Texas Healthcare Partnership. The partnership was founded in early 2018 under the leadership of three Central Texas healthcare industry leaders: Baylor Scott & White Health, Ascension Seton, and St. David’s HealthCare. Learn more about how the CTHP is leading workforce development in the Central Texas healthcare industry.

Healthcare is a growing industry in Central Texas and many young people here are interested in a healthcare career. They may not know exactly what they want to do, however. So, to help inspire the next generation of skilled healthcare workers, we joined the Central Texas Healthcare Partnership to host the annual Nursing Academy on Sept. 27 at Galen College of Nursing in Austin! Driving the news: Students from 18 different high schools from Austin, Del Valle, Dripping Springs, Elgin, Georgetown, Hays, Leander, Lockhart, Pflugerville and Round Rock ISDs, as well as local charter schools and American YouthWorks, attended this daylong event. What happened: The students explored nursing career paths and received hands-on opportunities in simulation labs to experience wound care, injections and IV lines.

• Galen nursing students spoke with the high schoolers to provide their perspectives on what a future in nursing can look like.

Zoom out: The Central Texas Healthcare Partnership was founded in early 2018 under the leadership of three Central Texas healthcare industry leaders: Baylor Scott & White Health, Ascension Seton, and St. David’s HealthCare. The Partnership’s mission is to sustain and grow the Central Texas healthcare industry while expanding pathways to good jobs for local residents. WFS Capital Area provides staff support to assist with the coordination of the partnership.

WFS Capital Area participates in multiple industry sector partnerships. These are a proven and employer-led workforce development strategy. With employers leading the conversation, companies across the U.S. have seen positive impacts on company growth and retention. Industry-specific executives within the Austin labor market work together to influence alignment around common solutions with awareness, training, hiring, and upskilling. Learn more about our industry sector partnerships.

   

Workforce Solutions Capital Area partners with many local healthcare employers to train and hire the workforce for this key local industry. One of our partners is the Austin Area Urban League (AAUL).

AAUL is a nonprofit organization that faces various risks, which can impact its long-term sustainability and ability to effectively serve the community. As the AAUL often relies on donations, grants, and government funding, subsidized employment programs can play a crucial role in addressing staffing challenges. These programs provide affordable staffing solutions, helping to enhance service delivery and support the organization’s mission.

• Employers can tap into a pool of local talent through our Earn and Learn service. The Austin Area Urban League sees immense value in this partnership and consistently leverages the WFS Capital Area talent pool to help fill essential subsidized employment positions.
• This collaboration not only supports workforce development but also strengthens the impact of AAUL’s community initiatives.

AAUL established a special collaboration with us to provide a constant flow of applicants to fill earn and learn positions through our candidate pool. The WFS Capital Area Business Solutions Team promotes their jobs such as Case Manager, Community Specialist, and administrative roles on LinkedIn, Breezy, and WorkInTexas to recruit talent.

The results: Between October 2023 and August 2024, the Austin Area Urban League participated in the Earn and Learn Service, focusing on subsidized employment.

• This effort led to three placements, three hires, and a total of $12,818.19 in paid wages. Currently, AAUL has two customers placed in the Earn and Learn program, earning an average wage of $20.33 per hour, in roles like administrative assistant and community support specialist.
• If AAUL hires these individuals, it will increase the number of hires and total wages paid.

The Austin Area Urban League is a member of the Central Texas Healthcare Partnership. The partnership was founded in early 2018 under the leadership of three Central Texas healthcare industry leaders: Baylor Scott & White Health, Ascension Seton, and St. David’s HealthCare. Learn more about how the CTHP is leading workforce development in the Central Texas healthcare industry.