The Texas Department of State Health
Services announced the state is staring at a shortage of 71,000
nurses by 2020 as demand continues to exceed supply.
Due to lack of teachers to handle
classes or clinical sites where students can get hands-on experience,
tens of thousands of qualified applicants have been turned away from
nursing schools for at least five years.
Experts anticipate a shortage of more than 260,000 nurses by 2025
across the country.
There's a great need to address the shortage. If not, the lack of
trained care givers threatens to kill the government's health care
overhaul law, of which many
If the shortage is not addressed, the lack of trained caregivers
threatens to flat-line the government's health care overhaul law, of
which many provisions, such as widespread coverage of the uninsured,
start in 2014.
According to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers, a tax and
business consulting firm, after this year, the number of nurses in
the country is seen to begin dwindling.
Since baby boomers begin turning 65 and they themselves need more
health care, a lot of nurses are expected to retire. In Texas, the
average age of a nurse faculty member is 54. According to the Texas
Nurses Association, in seven years time, almost 57 percent of all
nursing faculty will reach age 64.
One solution that Texas has concocted is to create more nurses in
its own backyard rather than get them from elsewhere.
Appropriations for nursing education was tripled by the state. The
Legislature allocated $14.7 million for the 2008-09 biennium but
provided $49.7 million for the current biennium.
Through regional chambers of commerce, Texas business leaders
worked hand-in-hand with the health sector and came up with a
pay-for-performance plan.
There are two nursing schools categories: high producers and low
producers. High producers are enjoying an allocation of $20.5 million
over two years; lower producers, on the other hand are accepting $9.5
million as an urge to improve.
Texas became a feature of a May report, "Charting Nursing's
Future," from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This is due to
the fund allocation that attracted national attention.
Enticing Students
Some hospital systems are offering tuition rebates for people to
become nurses. The largest hospital system in North Texas,
Arlington-based Texas Health Resources has teamed with El Centro
Community College -- to produce nurses -- for seven years now.
The uniqueness of Texas Health's program at El Centro is that the
program is created for current employees looking for a career in
nursing.
An average of $68,245 a year is what a Texas Health's registered
nurses earn.That average does not assume any specific years of
experience, and its shift differentials or pay upgrades for
additional certifications are not yet included.
In 2003 the program started with just 13 students. Now, it grew to
270 nurses, who have completed prerequisites, which have graduated
with an associate's degree and taken a certification test to be
employed as registered nurses. Class sizes have grown to 40 students
each and recently, there was a waiting list of 13 people.
For two years now, Texas Health pays for tuition and books --
which cost $15,000 -- in exchange for a pledge to work as a nurse for
one of the company's 13 hospitals in North Texas.
The system also offers a program for the public through the
University of Texas at Arlington in which it takes care of the
tuition for schooling in exchange for work upon graduation. The first
class, 10 students, graduated in August. There are twenty-eight
students currently enrolled.
Problems?
There is a concern looming that a glut of young, inexperienced
nurses at patients' bedside, due to the campaign to bring in more
nurses.
Joan Clark, chief nursing executive at Texas Health said, "Too
much of an imbalance is always a concern."
But she doubts demographics will pass that route anytime soon due
to the weak economy. A lot of older nurses have postponed
retirement, and some are extending work to make up the lost salaries
of laid-off spouses, Clark said.
Texas has implemented several key programs to address the shortage
of nurses in the state since 2001. This includes he Professional
Nursing Shortage Reduction Program, Nursing Innovation Grant Program
and the Center for Nursing Workforce Studies.