Meeting the Demand for Difference Makers
January 3, 2024
By Tracy Poelvoorde, PhD, RN, Chancellor, Trinity College of Nursing & Health Sciences
As our country’s healthcare system continues to find its footing in a post-pandemic era, the effect on the healthcare labor market continues to be challenging. Healthcare systems are grappling with shortages of employees across the board especially in direct patient care roles. The lack of supply of healthcare workers has created more pressure on colleges to increase the number of graduates. Trinity College of Nursing & Health Sciences continues to evolve to meet these demands.
Higher education rapidly shifted, and we adjusted how we engage with our students. At Trinity College, faculty and staff understand their role in helping students accomplish their educational and career goals and graduate educated, well-prepared healthcare professionals.
We know that our people, facilities, technology, learning opportunities, and affordability influence how students experience Trinity College. Here students don't just learn. They lead. We offer experience-based clinical learning in a hospital environment where you can earn a degree that will play a vital role in your life and the lives of others. Here, you can major in making a difference.
Technology heavily drives today’s care. We have integrated high-fidelity simulation, engaging learning strategies, and real-world hands-on experiences to build the nursing, radiology, and medical laboratory sciences workforce of the future. But equally important are the soft skills needed to care for others. Trinity College students work across healthcare disciplines to hone these essential skills.
From a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, robust learning opportunities, encouraging regular feedback from our teams, and prioritizing the health and well-being of our students — showing our students how much they matter is at the center of everything we do.
We trace the history of Trinity College back to 1898 when Moline Public School of Nursing opened; 1899 when St. Anthony's Hospital School of Nursing opened; and 1916 when Lutheran Hospital School for Nurses opened, each with four students, all interested in learning the discipline of nursing. With medical advances made in the late 1930s, these three institutions continued to serve the people of the Quad Cities area, and their respective schools of nursing thrived. This tradition continues today as Trinity College launched a new Medical Laboratory Sciences program accepting its first students this summer.
We have deep roots in the Quad Cities community with service-learning experiences to enrich the student educational experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.
Trinity College works very closely with UnityPoint Health to create pathways for students to further their education and grow within the organization. They volunteer to support blood drives, and flu vaccination clinics or serve as assistants in medical tents at community events. By offering real-life educational healthcare experiences while instilling the values of service, caring, inclusion, and lifelong learning, we’re building a selfless, dedicated healthcare workforce of tomorrow.
Nurses and health sciences professionals entering our profession today need to be flexible, resourceful, and caring. Trinity College proudly partners with students to grow the skills and expertise needed for success in an ever-changing healthcare industry.