Nurses who want to return to work through Oklahoma’s nurse refresher course can get assistance, thanks to a donation from the Masonic Charity Foundation of Oklahoma.
The foundation has donated $200,000, which translates into 100 scholarships of $2,000 each – the cost of the revised nurse refresher program, according to a news release from the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education. Applications for the scholarships opened February 10.
“We thought it was a great opportunity to do something we all desperately need,” said John Logan, executive director of the foundation.
Marcie Mack, state director of Oklahoma Career Tech, said, “We are thankful and grateful for the Masonic Charity Foundation of Oklahoma’s donation. The $200,000 will make a great difference in the lives of nurses wanting to return to work and in the lives of the patients they will be caring for.”
The statewide 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 centers offer the course for nurses who do not have an active license but want to return to practice.
The program includes a self-paced, online nursing theoretical course, a nursing skills lab provided by Oklahoma Career Tech centers and a clinical experience that will show students’ clinical competency. The revisions have lowered the number of hours required for students who achieve baseline competency. The fees have been lowered, too, from $2,599 to $2,000.
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.