VALDOSTA — An associate degree in nursing is now available at Valdosta Technical College.

The program enrolled its first 25 students who began class at the end of September.

The degree was made available at Valdosta Tech through a partnership with Southwest Georgia Technical College in Thomasville.

An open house on Wednesday introduced the medical community to the program and its first batch of students.

Darlene Boyd, RN, MSN, a faculty member at Southwest Georgia Technical College, said students will spend 18 months in the program.

The next class is tentatively scheduled to start in October of 2010, she said.

The program is accredited by the Georgia Board of Nursing and the National League of Nursing Accrediting Commission.

The students will do clinicals at South Georgia Medical Center, Smith Northview Hospital, Brooks County Hospital and Greenleaf.

“The intention is to have them stay in the community to serve,” Boyd said.

The entire nation is experiencing a nursing shortage, with many hospitals, including SGMC, having to hire traveling nurses to fill positions, she said.

Much of the equipment in the classroom was donated by hospitals. Students will be working with IV simulators and iStan, life-size human models that function much like a real person.

The college has two iStans, one man and a baby, that breath, cry, have a pulse and tell patients where they feel bad, Boyd said.

“On these, students do simulations that we would not allow on a real life patient,” she said.

The class is served by a part-time instructor and full-time instructor Tamara Bryant, RN, MSN.

Students who enter the program can take their required core courses at Valdosta Tech and use HOPE and Pell grants to help cover the cost of the degree.