Kegan Godbey works 24-hour shifts as a paramedic at the Pueblo Chemical Depot. When he’s not doing that, he works as a part-time paramedic program instructor at Pueblo Community College.

Now, the instructor would also become a student in PCC’s new online Paramedic to Registered Nurse program.

It’s easy to see that he is a busy man — and to add something even more important to the balancing act, he’s also the father of two kids who live out-of-state.

Godbey drives to Albuquerque, New Mexico, two times a month.

“My full-time job allows me a lot of time off because of the shifts. So I spend half my time in Albuquerque with my kids,” Godbey said Wednesday standing on the PCC campus.

“The idea of doing a full-time program with a standard schedule was not impossible, but I would be asked to make sacrifices that I didn’t want to make. This program will allow me to do coursework and see my kids at the same time because it is online.”

Godbey said the opportunity is as big as it gets for him.

“Even though the program is only a year that is still a year of me not being able to see my kids as much if it wasn’t online,” he said. “It will be an incredibly busy year, but knowing that I can maintain that schedule as much as possible is big.”

PCC President Patty Erjavec and members of medical programs at the school announced Wednesday the Paramedics-to-RN program, as well as two other new programs tailored for health care professionals who want to further their careers.

“This fantastic faculty and staff worked so hard on your behalf,” Erjavec said to students in the audience.

The other two programs are the RN-to-BSN completion program, which offers a bachelor degree in nursing, and an online program that offers bachelor of applied sciences degree in respiratory therapy.

PCC will be the first college in Colorado to offer the respiratory degree.

Each of the programs are developed at a bachelor’s degree level and designed to be online to help working professionals, said Mary Chavez, dean of health professions and public safety at PCC.

"These programs will not only reach our Pueblo area but because they are developed online we can reach out to the whole state of Colorado and even out-of-state,” she said.

About 32 percent of Colorado nurses are over the age of 55, and 4,500 active registered nurses are already over the age of 65, said Paula Kirchner, dean of nursing.

“Even with the short-term impact of the recession, 2,000 nurses are expected to retire annually over the next 10 years,” Kirchner said.

Data from the U.S. Department of Labor indicate an annual shortage of 490 nurses with BSNs beginning in 2014, rising to a cumulative shortage of 4,500 BSNs by 2024, which could mean that one in 13 positions requiring a BSN goes unfilled. Projections show that the shortages would be most acute in Grand Junction, Pueblo, Colorado Springs and Fort Collins.

“If the state is to maintain its current capacity to deliver health care services, let alone expand to meet the growing population and the demands of the National Healthcare Reform, we must significantly expand the pipeline of new nurses," Kirchner said.

PCC is the first in Colorado to offer the Paramedic-to-RN program at the community college level.

Ten students would be admitted into the class Friday, and it starts Tuesday.

Kirchner said seven other students, including Godbey, have signed up for the program to start in January.

The respiratory profession is increasing annually for job growth and higher education needs, said Shawna Tracy, department chair of respiratory therapy. She said there is a demand for therapists who have higher education.

“And we here at PCC can now offer that to our graduates, to graduates throughout the United States,” Tracy said.

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