April 6, 2021
Almost half of the nurse refresher course scholarships funded by the Masonic Charity Foundation of Oklahoma are still available to nurses who want to return to the field or enter it for the first time.
Each $2,000 scholarship will pay for the course for a nurse who does not have an active license but who wants to return to work or who never took the board exams.
The statewide nurse refresher course is part of a partnership between the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Fran and Earl Ziegler College of Nursing and the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education. Ten Oklahoma CareerTech technology centers offer the course.
As of Monday, 56 scholarships had been awarded and 44 were still available, said Lara Morris, Oklahoma CareerTech health careers education state program manager.
“Recipients of the scholarships included a woman who lost her job while caring for her husband, who had COVID-19,” Morris said. “She had planned to use stimulus money for the course, but because she received a scholarship, she was able to pay back rent and utilities.”
Oklahoma CareerTech and the OU College of Nursing worked together to streamline the course in response to the pandemic and the need for more nurses, both to work in hospitals and to replace nurses who moved to hospitals from clinics and other facilities, Morris said.
The program includes a self-paced, online nursing theoretical course, a nursing skills lab provided by Oklahoma CareerTech technology centers and a clinical experience that will show students’ clinical competency. The clinical experience may be virtual or in-person depending on the technology center. The revisions have lowered the number of hours required for students who achieve baseline competency. The fees have also been lowered, from $2,599 to $2,000.
The Masonic Charity Foundation of Oklahoma donated $200,000 to create 100 scholarships of $2,000 each. MCFO Executive Director John Logan said he proposed it to the foundation because he was afraid that even the reduced cost might prevent some nurses from taking the course and returning to work.
Technology centers offering the course are Autry Tech, Canadian Valley Tech, Green Country Tech, Kiamichi Tech, Meridian Tech, Metro Tech, Moore Norman Tech, Pontotoc Tech, Southern Tech and Tulsa Tech. Scholarship applications are being taken at the participating technology centers.
More information about the nurse refresher course can be found on the Oklahoma CareerTech website. Information about reinstating an RN or LPN license can be found on the Oklahoma Board of Nursing website.
About Oklahoma CareerTech
The Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education provides leadership and resources and assures standards of excellence for a comprehensive statewide system of career and technology education. The system offers programs and services in 29 technology center districts operating on 58 campuses, 399 PK-12 school districts, 13 Skills Centers campuses that include three juvenile facilities and 32 adult basic education service providers.
The agency is governed by the State Board of Career and Technology Education and works closely with the State Department of Education and the State Regents for Higher Education to provide a seamless educational system for all Oklahomans.
