INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Marian University and Ascension St. Vincent have worked together for years to provide students with opportunities to pursue traditional, accelerated, and doctoral nursing degrees.

It’s their way of combating an ongoing nursing shortage.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the need for nurses will grow by 6% by 2032. That’s faster than any other job in the country.

Through the partnership, Kristan Cleckner is looking to get her Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She enrolled at Marian after 40 years of working in finance.

“I’m a run-into-the-fire kind of person,” Cleckner said

Growing up in Chicago, she spent years volunteering in hospitals. When it came time for her to go to college, however, she decided to pursue a career in finance.

“It came easy for me,” Cleckner said. “It was interesting to me at the time and a pretty safe career. So I just stuck with it.”

For years, the former bank executive wanted to switch careers, even doing research into different nursing programs, but she says it was never the right time.

All that changed when a friend’s daughter, Abigail Grace, died last July.

“(We) always had this amazing bond,” Cleckner said. “That girl lived more in her 20 years than I had in 57 and I thought I’d done some pretty cool things in my life. She taught me to live with intention.”

Using that mantra of living with intention and her kids Meghan and Jack as motivation, Cleckner entered her second semester in the ABSN program this month. With it comes starting clinicals at Ascension St. Vincent Hospital.

Associate Engagement Coordinator Malory Luebbe says they’re always looking for people like Cleckner to join the field.

“What it takes to be a nurse (is), care, compassion, a genuine interest in the common good for your neighbor,” Luebbe said. “It’s such a rewarding career with lots of opportunities.”

On Wednesday, Marian University and the hospital will host the eighth annual “Come Explore Nursing” event in the lobby of Ascension St. Vincent in Indianapolis.

It’s aimed at anyone looking to get into healthcare — Whether they are in high school or looking to change careers.

From 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., people interested can chat with Marian and Ascension representatives about their programs.

Luebbe says the recruiting events and degrees offered by the partnership are part of a long-term plan to fill the future need.

“[It’s] a proactive approach to supporting that backfill, encouraging, (and) sparking people’s interest in nursing,” Luebbe said. “So that we are able to take better care of our community.”

If everything goes according to plan, Cleckner will graduate from Marian University and become a nurse next fall.

When she does, she’ll have a tattoo of a carnation — Abigail’s birth flower — with her on the job. It will serve as a constant reminder of the lessons the young woman taught her.

“I want to do this,” Cleckner said. “Do the things that make you happy and do the things that scare you.”

Cleckner isn’t too sure what kind of nurse she wants to be. At the top of her list is working in an emergency or operating room, or becoming a travel nurse.