Dr. Claudia Grooms, the dean of the Chattahoochee Tech School of Nursing, says the goal is simple: “When I need healthcare and look up, I want to have confidence in whoever is standing there.”
Part of this approach is converting a portion of the Jasper campus of Chattahoochee Technical College into what looks and feels like a hospital. There are hospital beds, students walking around in medical scrubs, and even a supply closet designed like a real hospital.
On a tour in late August, Grooms, along with Dr. Coleeta Davis, the program director, pointed out the lifelike training students are receiving.
The school now has five “bays” and several what might appear to be mannequin patients. But the dummies are quite smart, with high-fidelity feedback controlled by a professor who watches from behind a two-way mirror and creates realistic training scenarios.
The artificial patients can be made to exhibit signs of everything from stroke to diabetes, to seizures to having a baby. The simulator patients are part of the investment Chattahoochee Tech has made in the nursing program at the local campus with a high-fidelity (birthing simulator) model costing up to $100,000 and mid-fidelity simulators running between $25,000-$60,000.
The dean and program director explained how they start students with the models exhibiting routine things they will see as entry-level nurses. Then they work up to things seen less frequently but conditions that nurses need to correctly spot quickly to save lives.
“It can be stressful for students when they are new,” said Grooms, who brings more than 30 years of nursing experience to the classrooms. “But by the time they graduate, they will be comfortable and confident.”
Davis not only brings a great deal of experience, but still works regular shifts at Children’s Healthcare, saying she gets excited to introduce students to nursing, “as I love this career.”
Chattahoochee Tech recruited a well-rounded faculty with backgrounds in all types of nursing from pediatrics to mental health.
A key component of the program is the partnerships with all the big hospitals nearby where students work 1-3 days each week for 12-hour shifts as clinical training. Expanding the program had to be accompanied by partners like Piedmont, Northside, and Wellstar offering more clinical opportunities, Grooms said.
With reports of a severe nursing shortage in Georgia, the dean and program director said Chattahoochee Tech recognized the need for qualified nurses and the need to expand their program. This led them to re-open the program at the Jasper campus, bringing it full circle since nursing had last been taught in Jasper in Fall 2012.
With the need comes demand, and nurses who achieve their certifications are met with solid job offers with good pay and the chance to work in many different locations and specialties.
The leaders of the nursing program are proud to point out that they have an excellent (98 percent) pass rate with their students taking the state certification tests.
“We do whatever is necessary to see that our students are prepared,” Grooms said.
Students can dual-enroll in high school and come out ready to work as first-level CNAs (certified nursing assistants).
But they also see a good number of older students seeking a change from other professional careers and coming back for the LPN (licensed practical nurse) and the RN (Associate of Science in Nursing) offered at the Paulding campus.
“They know nursing offers stable jobs, employment, and advancement opportunities,” said Grooms.
Currently, there are 153 students in the advanced program, 108 in the LPN program, offered at both Marietta and Jasper, and 95 in the CNA program. However, the fall nursing classes are typically smaller than spring classes. Interested students can make plans now to attend spring 2025 classes.
Financial aid is available depending on circumstances. To find out more about the programs go to chattahoocheetech.edu and follow tabs to the nursing-specific programs.
