States Work To Avoid Nurse Shortage By Investing In Education Programs, Improving Hospital Working Conditions

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Also Included In: Medical Students / Training;  Public Health
Article Date: 25 Sep 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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More than two-thirds of states have allocated funding to nursing education programs over the past five years in an effort to address a looming nationwide nursing shortage, Stateline.org reports. According to a 2004 report by the Health Resources and Services Administration, the U.S. is expected to have a shortage of one million nurses by 2020. Thirty states were experiencing nurse shortages in 2000 and 44 states are projected to have shortages by 2020.

Several factors are contributing to the problem. Nurses are "leaving the profession in droves, largely because of retirement," and at the same time, there is a shortage of nursing instructors, leaving 4,000 qualified students on waiting lists, Stateline.org reports. In addition, nurses can earn more money working at clinics or hospitals than teaching, so few return to school for advanced degrees needed to teach.

According to Stateline.org, states have been "pouring money into the problem," increasing funding for nursing scholarships and loan forgiveness programs for nurses who return to school. For example, the Mississippi Legislature in 2006 approved a $12,000 pay increase for nursing faculty, which drew younger nurses into teaching and helped retain faculty who were planning to retire. Kansas in 2006 launched a 10-year, $30 million initiative to increase the number of nurses by 25% by having colleges compete for the money and matching funds. The initiative led to 507 additional nursing slots in the first year and an expansion of $100,000 in grants to private nursing programs.

However, nurses say that even if efforts to increase their numbers are successful, nurses will continue to leave the profession unless hospitals fix workplace problems caused by the shortage -- such as mandatory overtime and requiring nurses to care for too many patients -- that lead to worsening patient care and an increase in violence against nurses, Stateline.org reports.

To date, 14 states have banned or limited mandatory overtime for nurses. Seven states have laws requiring hospitals to hold violence prevention and protection training programs, and eight states have increased penalties for violence against nurses. In California, nurses are limited to caring for five patients at a time -- a move that the California Nurses Association says improves patient care. Thirteen states have enacted legislation supported by the American Nurses Association that requires hospitals to establish committees, half of whose members are nurses, to determine staffing needs based on experience, skill and typical patient population (Vu, Stateline.org, 9/22).

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