Kids To Careers

It seems like there has always been a shortage of nurses. Over the past four years, however, the shortage has begun to accelerate. In response, the federal government has stepped in with a new program encouraging children and teens to enter the field. On February 22, 2002 HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson unveiled the "Kids into Health Careers" education program.

"Now, for the first time, we are making available the kind of information parents, teachers and organizations need to motivate and encourage our nation's promising young talent to pursue a career in the health professions," Secretary Thompson said.

As leading proponents for the need to increase the numbers of nurses, especially those serving the rural community, we have elected to participate in this campaign locally. Many of our faculty, staff and students give presentations regularly to schools, encouraging young people to consider nursing as an excellent career choice. We are more than happy to share our materials and information sources with you. This site is updated regularly, so feel free to visit us often!

Web sites of interest:
Bush Administration Promotes Careers in Nursing
Survey Shows Critical Shortage of Nurses:
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2002pres/20020222.html

HRSA's Kid's into Health Careers site:
http://www.bhpr.hrsa.gov/kidscareers/

What other universities are doing:
http://unmc.edu/nursing/careers/
http://uch.uchsc.edu/uccc/education/seeds/

Materials to download and use:
Curriculum Plan for Grade-Specific Recruitment Activities
Kids into Careers K-5 Guidelines
Lesson Plan K-5
K thru 5 Activity Sheet
Lesson Plan 6 - 12