KWCH Building You
Building You: Practical nurses graduate, begin new career

Author: Lily Wu, KWCH Anchor/Reporter

 

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - WSU Tech graduated 50 students from the practical nurse program today.

 

“It’s a very rigorous program but the need and demand is so great and we are able to get them through and help them to be successful,” said Denice Klassen, clinical coordinator at WSU Tech.

 

It took Chad Hunt two semesters to complete the practical nurse technical certificate.

 

“Nursing school is very difficult. We only have a percentage of the people that we started with me originally. For the people that are graduating with me, I feel great for myself, but, I also feel great for those people as well,” said Hunt.

 

Hunt was laid off from the automotive industry last year and chose to go back to school after learning about training opportunities through the Workforce Center.

 

“They were in demand even before the pandemic. I think that really exacerbated the need in the healthcare industry overall and really demonstrated how important healthcare professionals are,” said Keith Lawing, president and chief executive officer of the Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas.

 

“I think there’s great opportunity there. There’s a growing demand for one thing,” said Lawing. “It is accessible. I mean, we have fantastic nursing programs whether it’s WSU TechButler Community CollegeWichita State University, so, the education is available. There’s resources to help people with the training.”

 

To learn more about the WSU Tech nursing programs, click here.

 

To learn more about the Get Trained Get Paid initiative, click here.

 

For Building You stories, click here.

 

Copyright 2021 KWCH. All rights reserved.