Murray State partnership helping build Baptist Health Paducah’s nursing pipeline
In 39 years as a nurse, including time at the bedside, in higher education and now as chief nursing officer at Baptist Health Paducah, Marilyn Riley, DNP, PhD, cannot remember a time when healthcare had all the nurses it needed.
“There has not been one day that we’ve ever said, ‘You know what? We’ve got enough nurses today," Marilyn said. “It’s been a problem forever, and I think it will be ongoing because we’ve got patients who are aging. As a population, we’re aging. Our workforce is aging. We have more complex patients, so nurses must have more skill at the bedside.”
In western Kentucky, one way to address that need is to help more future nurses complete their education and begin their careers close to home.
A partnership between Baptist Health Paducah and Murray State University is creating that opportunity.
Through Kentucky’s Healthcare Workforce Investment Fund, Baptist Health Paducah received $250,000 in grant funding. Baptist Health Foundation Paducah donors provided the required $250,000 match, creating $500,000 to support students pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Murray State.
The program was designed to provide up to $50,000 each for 10 students, although the funding may ultimately reach more. Students can enter the scholarship program as sophomores, juniors or seniors, so not every recipient will require four full years of support.
Three students have already been selected, all of whom are currently working as student nurse externs at Baptist Health Paducah. Additional scholars will be chosen as the program continues.
“It really has just begun,” Marilyn said.
Applicants must be admitted to Murray State’s BSN program, maintain at least a 3.25 GPA, and demonstrate a commitment to nursing in rural Kentucky. In exchange for the scholarship, recipients agree to work at Baptist Health Paducah for one year for each academic year funded, up to two years.
The arrangement helps students afford their education while creating a direct path from nursing school to Baptist Health Paducah, which is especially important in a region where the pool of new nurses is limited. Murray State is one of the hospital’s only sources of new nursing graduates close by.
“Those students are crucial to filling our open RN positions,” Marilyn said.
The scholarship program is also part of a larger commitment to nursing excellence at Baptist Health Paducah. Bringing new nurses into the workforce is essential, but so is making sure they have opportunities to keep learning as healthcare evolves.
“Healthcare is changing so quickly," Marilyn said. "Nurses have to stay up on that, and there are a lot of ways that our donors can help.”
Donor support to the Nursing Excellence Fund can help nurses continue their education, learn new clinical skills and access equipment or training that strengthens patient care. Generosity has even helped nurses attend national conferences where they can learn from other health systems and bring new ideas back to western Kentucky.
“If our nurses only ever stay in Paducah, they only ever know Paducah,” Marilyn said. “Healthcare is so much bigger than that, and our nurses need to get out there and see what else exists.”
Investments of all sizes make a difference. When Baptist Health Paducah expanded its vascular access team, donor funding helped provide training models that allowed nurses to practice specialized procedures before performing them on patients. About eight nurses were able to build new skills, increasing the number of team members able to provide those services.
“It was probably around $1,500, but it made such an impact,” Marilyn said. “It made an impact for our patients because now I have more nurses who know how to do those skills.”
The Nursing Excellence Fund is about creating a pathway for nurses to keep moving forward. Marilyn’s own career began at the bedside and grew over decades into teaching, advanced practice and leadership.
“Where you start is very likely not where you’re going to finish, and you’ll have a whole lot of other opportunities in-between,” she shared.
The Murray State scholarship program helps open that pathway earlier, giving future nurses support as they enter the profession and a direct connection to Baptist Health Paducah. Continued investment helps make sure those opportunities do not end at graduation, as the hospital builds on a team Marilyn believes is already operating at an exceptional level.
“I would put my nursing team up against any other,” she said. “I came from a Level I trauma center in a major city. We had a lot going on in that hospital, and I would put our nurses up against those nurses any day of the week. They are phenomenal.”
“There has not been one day that we’ve ever said, ‘You know what? We’ve got enough nurses today," Marilyn said. “It’s been a problem forever, and I think it will be ongoing because we’ve got patients who are aging. As a population, we’re aging. Our workforce is aging. We have more complex patients, so nurses must have more skill at the bedside.”
In western Kentucky, one way to address that need is to help more future nurses complete their education and begin their careers close to home.
A partnership between Baptist Health Paducah and Murray State University is creating that opportunity.
Through Kentucky’s Healthcare Workforce Investment Fund, Baptist Health Paducah received $250,000 in grant funding. Baptist Health Foundation Paducah donors provided the required $250,000 match, creating $500,000 to support students pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Murray State.
The program was designed to provide up to $50,000 each for 10 students, although the funding may ultimately reach more. Students can enter the scholarship program as sophomores, juniors or seniors, so not every recipient will require four full years of support.
Three students have already been selected, all of whom are currently working as student nurse externs at Baptist Health Paducah. Additional scholars will be chosen as the program continues.
“It really has just begun,” Marilyn said.
Applicants must be admitted to Murray State’s BSN program, maintain at least a 3.25 GPA, and demonstrate a commitment to nursing in rural Kentucky. In exchange for the scholarship, recipients agree to work at Baptist Health Paducah for one year for each academic year funded, up to two years.
The arrangement helps students afford their education while creating a direct path from nursing school to Baptist Health Paducah, which is especially important in a region where the pool of new nurses is limited. Murray State is one of the hospital’s only sources of new nursing graduates close by.
“Those students are crucial to filling our open RN positions,” Marilyn said.
The scholarship program is also part of a larger commitment to nursing excellence at Baptist Health Paducah. Bringing new nurses into the workforce is essential, but so is making sure they have opportunities to keep learning as healthcare evolves.
“Healthcare is changing so quickly," Marilyn said. "Nurses have to stay up on that, and there are a lot of ways that our donors can help.”
Donor support to the Nursing Excellence Fund can help nurses continue their education, learn new clinical skills and access equipment or training that strengthens patient care. Generosity has even helped nurses attend national conferences where they can learn from other health systems and bring new ideas back to western Kentucky.
“If our nurses only ever stay in Paducah, they only ever know Paducah,” Marilyn said. “Healthcare is so much bigger than that, and our nurses need to get out there and see what else exists.”
Investments of all sizes make a difference. When Baptist Health Paducah expanded its vascular access team, donor funding helped provide training models that allowed nurses to practice specialized procedures before performing them on patients. About eight nurses were able to build new skills, increasing the number of team members able to provide those services.
“It was probably around $1,500, but it made such an impact,” Marilyn said. “It made an impact for our patients because now I have more nurses who know how to do those skills.”
The Nursing Excellence Fund is about creating a pathway for nurses to keep moving forward. Marilyn’s own career began at the bedside and grew over decades into teaching, advanced practice and leadership.
“Where you start is very likely not where you’re going to finish, and you’ll have a whole lot of other opportunities in-between,” she shared.
The Murray State scholarship program helps open that pathway earlier, giving future nurses support as they enter the profession and a direct connection to Baptist Health Paducah. Continued investment helps make sure those opportunities do not end at graduation, as the hospital builds on a team Marilyn believes is already operating at an exceptional level.
“I would put my nursing team up against any other,” she said. “I came from a Level I trauma center in a major city. We had a lot going on in that hospital, and I would put our nurses up against those nurses any day of the week. They are phenomenal.”
“Healthcare is changing so quickly. Nurses have to stay up on that, and there are a lot of ways that our donors can help.”
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