HERE FOR EVERY
future caregiver
Training the next generation of caregivers
The path to becoming a nurse usually begins in a classroom. At Macon Community Hospital, it’s beginning somewhere else too—on the hospital floor, where nursing students learn alongside the care teams they’ll one day join.
Careers in nursing rarely begin all at once. More often, the profession takes shape gradually—through time spent learning from experienced clinicians, through the quiet confidence that grows with practice, and through opportunities that allow students to see themselves in the role before they officially step into it.
At Macon Community Hospital, that moment is arriving earlier for the next generation.
Through a new partnership with Cumberland University, the hospital has launched Tennessee’s first Registered Nurse pre-licensure apprenticeship program, an opportunity for students to step into the profession while they are still working toward their degree.
The program reflects Macon Community Hospital’s longstanding commitment to healthcare education and workforce development. Across Tennessee, hospitals are working to strengthen the pipeline of future nurses. In 2021 alone, the state faced a shortfall of roughly 15,700 registered nurses, making the available workforce up of only about 80 percent of the care demand needed to maintain national staffing levels.
At the same time, demand for nursing services continues to rise alongside Tennessee’s aging and growing population. Projections show the need for RNs to increase significantly over the next decade, with demand expected to climb to more than 92,000 full-time nurses by 2035.
Programs that connect education directly to clinical experience are increasingly viewed as one of the most effective ways to meet that challenge.
The apprenticeship program is guided by a team of experienced educators and clinical leaders who have spent years sharping the profession. Instructor Rosie Gray, DNP, RN; advisor Michelle Zuercher, MSN, RN; and Beth Chatham, PhD, RN, CNE, Director of Nursing Programs at Cumberland University are helping lead the academic side of the program. At Macon Community Hospital, Nurse Educator Angela Russell-Comer, RN, Chief Nursing Officer Leanne Bilbrey, and nurse educators Catherine Bates, RN, and Emily Brawner, RN are helping students translate their studies into real-world care.
Together, they are building an experience for the next generation of nurses that blends academic progress with the lived reality of nursing. The program reflects a belief shared by many healthcare leaders: communities grow stronger when they help cultivate the caregivers who will one day serve them.
“This is a historic milestone not only for Macon County, but for the entire state,” said Macon Community Hospital CEO Scott Tongate. “By bringing registered nursing apprenticeship into the hospital, we are creating a stronger workforce pipeline and ensuring that our community will continue to have access to excellent, compassionate care.”
The initiative also builds on a broader network of partnerships focused on expanding opportunities into nursing. Macon Community Hospital is working alongside Volunteer State Community College and the Tennessee College of Applied Technology in Hartsville to create earlier entry points for students interested in healthcare careers, including pathways that allow high schoolers to begin preparing for LPN or RN licensure.
Programs like this help ensure that the future of care doesn’t feel distant or abstract. It takes shape in the relationships between students and mentors, in the confidence gained during early clinical experience, and in the decision to build a career serving the people and places that shaped a nurse’s life.
At Macon Community Hospital, those beginnings are already unfolding—one student, one mentor, and one opportunity at a time.
Read more here.
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