WVU Hospitals holds signing event for Aspiring Nurse Program

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — Friday afternoon, WVU Hospitals held a signing event to welcome 18 new students to the summer cohort of its Aspiring Nurse Program, which first launched last year.

The program is made possible through a partnership with four local schools of nursing including Fairmont State University, Laurel College of Technology, the West Virginia Junior College, as well as the WVU Bridgeport campus. Participants in this program will be eligible to receive $5,000 each semester for up to four semesters.

Following completion of the program, participants will then receive an additional payment of $5,000 to sign on with WVU Hospitals for employment, making $25,000 the maximum amount someone can receive.

“The importance is this really is building our pipeline,” Vice President of Nursing and Chief Nursing Officer with WVU Hospitals Mary Fanning said. “I think it’s no secret that there is a nursing shortage.”

Fanning said that she’s been working with WVU Hospitals for the entirety of her career and feels comforted by the fact that the organization is providing a pipeline of nurses to serve people in West Virginia as she is “nearing [her] retirement age.”

Fanning said that she feels many people have aspired to become a nurse at some point in their lives, which inspired the name of the program. However, she said that many people may have been unable to enter the field due to either personal financial situations or strenuous life circumstances.

“So the great thing about nursing is you can enter it at any point in your life,” Fanning said. “And so, this really helps fulfill a dream that they may have had, while giving them the financial resources where they can focus on school and their education and not have to work at the same time.”

Last winter, WVU Hospitals brought in 42 students for the inaugural cohort of the Aspiring Nurse Program . Fanning told 12 News that they’re looking to hire up to 160 new people this year through the program and that they’re planning on signing new cohorts two to three times a year moving forward.

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