February 11, 2021
Story and portrait by Brandon Steinert
A career in nursing can take any number of turns down myriad paths, like working as a traveling nurse or a home health professional. Greg Allison, RN, took a road less traveled. He spent about eight years working as a nurse after finishing the program at Barton Community College, then he followed his entrepreneurial instinct to open a company that provides skilled nurses to healthcare providers, AllStaff Chartered in Great Bend.
Allison opened his business in March of 2002, and it has since grown to about 75 employees. Four years ago, they purchased a new building to accommodate their expanding service.
“I just saw a need while working as a nurse that we needed a company that could provide nurses who have good training and education,” he said. “When we send a nurse out, we want them to be well- prepared and ready to do the job without having to ask a lot of questions, so we have quite a process to get the staff trained for the different facilities depending on what software they use, but we do that ahead of time.”
He said the key to being able to train their nurses effectively is hiring versatile and sharp employees who come on board with an already-solid grasp of nursing practices. He said students who come from Barton Community College’s program are consistently well-prepared and ready to work.
“We love Barton Community College,” he said. “A large percentage of our nurses are Barton graduates, and we’ll pay for their schooling with a three-year post-graduation commitment.”
The local company is thriving and providing jobs for dozens of local healthcare professionals, and it exists because of one decision Allison made more than 20 years ago when he had set his intentions to work as a math teacher after working in the oil field for many years. He applied to the nursing program and got in at a time when the program had more than 250 applicants, but he turned it down.
Two weeks later, he changed his mind and asked if he could still have a spot in the program, and he doesn’t know what compelled him to change directions, but he’s glad he did.
“I can’t say I regret it,” he said. “It is a very rewarding career. And, I can’t say enough good things about the Barton Nursing Program. We know if we get nurses from Barton they’ll have the tools and knowledge to do the job.”
Even beyond the skill and ability, Allison said there’s an equally critical quality he looks for when hiring nurses.
“You’ve got to have a big heart to decide to be a nurse,” he said. “We have a lot of people with big hearts around here.”
The secondary deadline to submit applications to start in Barton’s nursing program in the fall of 2021 is March 1; the priority deadline is January 31 each year. For more information or to request an application, visit nursing.bartonccc.edu or contact Director of Nursing Education Renae Skelton at skeltonr@bartonccc.edu or (620) 792-9355.