Demand for more nurses drives tech schools, private colleges to create new paths to BSN degrees

Karen Herzog of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and USA Today Network wrote a lengthy feature on the nursing shortage and UW-Green Bay’s answer to it — in part, the 1-2-1 program. “UW-Green Bay was the first in the state to start a 1-2-1 partnership. Its program with Northeast Wisconsin Technical College — a 15-minute drive from the UW-Green Bay campus — launched in fall 2016. It’s modeled after a similar program in another state. In a 1-2-1 nursing program, the first year of classes is at the four-year school, the next two years are at the technical college, and the fourth year is back at the four-year school. ‘We know the nursing workforce is aging and retiring, we need more nurses, and employers are looking for BSN degree-holders,’ said Jennifer Schwahn, a nursing adviser who coordinates the NURSE 1-2-1 program at UW-Green Bay.”