The Economic Development Division at West Georgia Technical College has launched a new training program to help nurses re-enter the healthcare workforce.

As high demand for nurses continues for the nation and region, and unprecedented healthcare challenges await, the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG), with the support of the Georgia Board of Nursing (GBON), developed two pathways to re-enter the high-demand field of nursing in the state of Georgia – one for Registered Nurses and one for Practical Nurses.

The Nursing Re-entry Program is specifically designed for nurses who have an active Georgia nursing license but have not practiced nursing for four or more years, who want to reinstate their Georgia nursing license, or who have an active nursing license in another state but want to apply for a Georgia nursing license.

Linsey Fielder, Associate Dean of Nursing and coordinator of the re-entry program at WGTC, expressed how important this program is, especially given the current state of healthcare in Georgia.

“This Nurse Re-entry Program is needed now more than ever,” said Fielder. “The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us how valuable nurses are and how much we need them to serve the community.”

The RN and LPN re-entry programs feature a two-part curriculum of 40 hours of independent online study and a minimum 160-hour supervised clinical period, varying in length from 1 to 3 months. The program is on-demand and can be started as soon as the necessary registration steps are completed. The entire program must be completed in 6 months. Examinations are also required.

Outlining the curriculum and course delivery model for the new re-entry nursing programs was a collaborative effort between leadership at TCSG, GBON, and nursing faculty from technical colleges throughout the state.

The GBON states that nurses who cannot document three months or 500 hours of licensed practice as a registered nurse within the last four years immediately preceding the date of application must complete a Board approved re-entry program.

Both programs are administered through the Economic Development Division of WGTC in partnership with the state Economic Development Office at TCSG. 

The cost of the program is $1,500.  This excludes costs associated with immunizations, physical exams, malpractice, CPR training, background checks, Board of Nursing application fees and any institutional fees.

A full list of program requirements, applications procedures and FAQs is available at www.westgatech.edu

For more information, contact Linda Sullivan at linda.sullivan@westgatech.edu.

West Georgia Technical College, with campuses in Carroll, Coweta, Douglas, Haralson and Troup counties and class sites in Heard and Meriwether counties, offers more than 140 associate degree, diploma and technical certificate programs of study. A unit of the Technical College System of Georgia, West Georgia Tech is one of the largest of the state’s 22 technical colleges. For more information, please visit westgatech.edu.