Coalition Targeting Nursing Shortage Will Take Aim At Education, Funding

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Also Included In: Medical Students / Training;  Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 02 Mar 2009 - 1:00 PDT

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AARP, the AARP Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on Monday announced the formation of a new coalition that will aim to address the nationwide nursing shortage and emphasize the need to include nurses in a comprehensive health care overhaul, CQ HealthBeat reports. The 20-member coalition, comprised of businesses, consumer organizations and health care providers, will seek funding to bolster nursing education and training, improve job satisfaction and retention, and increase the number of nurses in the work force. According to the National League for Nursing, 99,000 qualified nursing applicants were rejected from nursing schools in 2008 because of limited resources and instructors.

RWJF Senior Vice President John Lumpkin said, "We have a crisis and that's what brings this coalition together." He added, "The role of nurses reaches across all sectors of society. Nursing is in the heart of quality care. The unprecedented shortage is going to grow as people get older." Lumpkin said that while "funding is a major part of the shortage, we need to discuss education." Susan Reinhard, senior vice president and director of AARP's Public Policy Institute and a chief strategist at the Center to Champion Nursing in America, said, "This coalition is supporting the work of nurses, ensuring we have the nurses we need in the future." She noted that the coalition intends to educate people and discuss issues related to nursing shortages, education and retention.

Briefing
At a briefing on Monday, panelists laid out a legislative agenda intended to result in physician assistants being recognized as covered providers under Medicare, Medicaid and the Federal Workers Compensation Program and allow federal grants to apply to physician assistant programs. According to research presented by Perri Morgan, director of Physician Assistant Research at the Department of Community and Family Medicine at the Duke University Medical Center, there is one PA in the work force for every 10 physicians but PA programs have tripled over 15 years and are continuing to grow (Feldman, CQ HealthBeat, 2/25).

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