COLUMBUS, Ohio — Current and future nurses have a new opportunity to expand their roles.
10TV has previously reported on the shortage of nurses and efforts to recruit people to the field.
But The Ohio State University's College of Nursing is working to get more nurses into primary care.
Ohio State has received a federal grant to enroll and educate at least 100 nurses into the area of primary care.
The university says this is a new focus in medicine and currently, only about 10% of nurses are working in primary care settings.
"We know that nurses can make a huge difference in the delivery of health care in primary care. And it's something that hasn't been traditionally seen as part of our educational process or the delivery. And so we know that we need to get our nurses geared up for that," said Margaret Graham, Vice Dean of OSU College of Nursing.
"The nurses still are registered nurses, but this certificate helps elevate them to say, 'Hey, I've had this education and I can operate at top of license because I've had this education. I know how to operate in an enhanced role because of this,'" said Wendy Bowles, OSU College of Nursing Assistant Dean.
Because of the great need, tuition assistance is available for this program.
Thursday, the Ohio State College of Nursing is holding a recruiting event for current and future registered nurses.
Details and registration can be found here.