Ladders in Nursing Careers
Program provides win-win for nurses-to-be and Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospitals
The Ladders in Nursing Careers (LINC) program was created as one component in a comprehensive strategy to address regional and national nursing shortages. LINC provides training stipends as financial and workplace support for current full-time employees who aspire to become licensed registered nurses.

Texas Health Resources provides tuition reimbursement while the LINC program provides education training grants that allow these employees to work part-time while attending college and yet retain their full-time salary and benefits. The reduced work schedule allows time for study as well as a streamlined path to the start of a nursing career. The stipend provides financial security for employees who are often the sole (or primary) breadwinners in their families. The fund is distributed in the form of a grant with repayment forgiven after a period of subsequent employment.

First established at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth in 2002, the LINC program was such an immediate success that it was expanded to Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Southwest Fort Worth in 2004. Funds were committed in 2008 to establish a LINC program at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Cleburne.

Eighty-one employees have graduated from the program since its inception and another 24 are currently enrolled. While the benefits to employees who take advantage of the LINC program are numerous, the benefits to Texas Health Harris Methodist hospitals are even more bountiful. The program promotes retention of current employees while ensuring a future foundation of qualified nurses.

The Texas Health Harris Methodist Foundation is currently working to secure funding to appropriately maintain the LINC program and expand it to additional Texas Health Harris Methodist hospitals. For more information or to donate to this program, please call Ann Clinkscales at 817-317-5250.