HCA Invests Heavily Again in Nurse Education and Training

In a move to support its nursing workforce strategy, HCA Healthcare Inc. is committing $300 million toward education and training efforts.

The investments include $200 million to expand HCA’s Galen College of Nursing and about $136 million to open the new HCA Healthcare Centers for Clinical Advancement, which are designed to bridge the gap between the classroom and the bedside through practice-based instruction.

Since 2019, HCA has invested about $46 million to open 12 new Centers for Clinical Advancement, bringing its footprint to 15 locations nationwide. The company plans to invest another $90 million to open an additional 20 centers over the next three years. The centers deploy technology and manikins to simulate real-life scenarios nurses may experience at the bedside.

The Centers for Clinical Advancement operate independently from nursing schools and are dedicated to helping practicing nurses advance their skills and careers. New nursing graduates use the centers to complete their nurse residency program and choose specializations, while veteran nurses can use the centers to earn advanced certifications.

As part of the nurse residency program, new graduates complete classroom instruction and perform hands-on skills training utilizing high-fidelity immersive simulation within the centers. Technology within the centers also allows students to learn from clinical experts across the nation, if needed, and to record their simulations to play back scenarios and debrief with colleagues and trained facilitators to further advance their learning.

Bringing Galen into HCA Healthcare was strategically designed to bring the nursing organizations together to increase access to nursing education and to provide nursing career development opportunities for HCA Healthcare colleagues. Today, more than 3,000 HCA Healthcare colleagues are enrolled at Galen College of Nursing to help advance their careers. Since joining HCA Healthcare, Galen College of Nursing has announced 14 new campuses nationwide, with a combined enrollment of more than 12,000 students.

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An upcoming AHA Leadership Scan episode, “Achieving Clinical Workforce Stability in the New Normal” will explore innovative strategies some hospitals are employing to address both their near- and long-term nursing and clinical needs more economically. The program will air live at noon CT on June 13. Register now.