By Tim Bonfield and Andrea Uhde
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Unlike the tough times experienced by some college graduates, nearly all 84 people who graduated Friday from the Christ Hospital School of Nursing have jobs or job offers waiting for them.

The class is the 100th graduating class for the 102-year-old school and the first to graduate since the school was rebuilt to make room for a new cardiac wing at Christ Hospital.

"The clinical aspect of the school is what sets it apart," said grad Patricia Brown, 36. "We're better prepared once we graduate because we get so much clinical time."

The fact that so many graduates already have jobs reflects the shortage of nurses in Greater Cincinnati. Despite a variety of scholarships, signing bonuses and other awareness campaigns, 17 percent of the registered nurse openings at Greater Cincinnati hospitals were unfilled this year - up slightly from 16 percent in 2001, according to the Greater Cincinnati Health Council.

A low supply of nurses during busy times has been a big reason why several hospitals in central Cincinnati frequently find themselves diverting ambulances carrying non-critical patients to other facilities.

The Christ Hospital class of 2003 reflects the increasingly wide mix of people willing to consider nursing.

Kevin White, 42, chose the career because his wife is a nurse. "I didn't really care, male or female," said White, of Springdale, who will be working in the Intensive Care Unit at Christ Hospital. "Everybody I've talked to said they love having a male nurse on the floor."

Most students, including White, who once worked in a postal office in Arkansas, pursued other careers and jobs before taking up nursing.

Tonya Hume, 35, got her bachelor's degree in psychology in 1992 from Governors State University in University Park, Ill. After sending out 100 applications and getting only one reply, Hume decided to pursue a nursing degree.

"This degree means more professionally and financially than my degree in psychology," she said.

Hume, who now lives with a cousin in Amelia, will be working at the University Hospital neonatal intensive-care unit. That job was easier to achieve, she said. "This time, they came looking for me."

"This school has given people an opportunity to fulfill a goal that otherwise they wouldn't be able to afford," said Teresa Goodwin, the school's Executive Director.

The graduating class also reflects how tough learning to be a nurse can be.

Of the 145 students who entered the two-year training program in September 2001, 84 were ready to graduate Friday. Another seven are slated to graduate in January.

Of the 84 graduates, the average age is 26.3, with ages ranging up to 56. All but nine are female. All but two of the graduates joined a program that will repay the entire $12,000 of their training if they work for the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati for at least two years.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, in 2002, the average starting salary for a registered nurse was $32,000. Miami University said its 2002 nursing grads earned an average starting salary of $37,900.

The Christ Hospital School of Nursing is not as unusual as it might seem. As recently as the 1970s, hospital nurses were routinely trained at hospitals. In fact, trainees of past generations were expected to live on hospital campuses.

For many years, Christ, Good Samaritan, Jewish, Bethesda Oak and Deaconess hospitals ran their own nursing schools. The Jewish and Deaconess schools have closed. Except for Christ Hospital, the other programs became affiliated with local colleges or were reorganized into independent programs.

Christ Hospital graduates get a diploma that certifies their readiness to take state exams to become a registered nurse. Like graduates of college programs, they must pass a state exam to become registered nurses. Most of the graduates will take their exams in the next few weeks.

E-mail tbonfield@enquirer.com and auhde@enquirer.com