October 26, 2009

Conference studies shortage of nursing teachers

WILLIAM McCALL
Associated Press Writer

     PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A predicted national shortage of nurses in the next decade could be made worse by a shortage of the experienced nurses who train them at community colleges and universities around the country.
     In response, nursing education leaders from 11 states are gathering in Portland this week to find ways to boost the number of faculty in nursing programs.
     The Oregon model they'll study blends the curriculum and faculty of community colleges and universities to give nursing students in two-year associate degree programs a chance to earn bachelor's degrees.
     The more nurses with bachelor's, the greater the number expected to go on to advanced degrees and teaching, educators say.
     "We really are one faculty and a common curriculum," said Christine Tanner, a professor at the Oregon Health and Science University School of Nursing.
     Eight community colleges have joined OHSU to create the Oregon Consortium for Nursing Education, allowing students in rural areas of the state to complete their coursework for a bachelor's while remaining in their community.
     The Oregon program is the centerpiece of the two-day conference sponsored by the Center to Champion Nursing in America, created by AARP and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
     The center is working to prepare nurses for the demands of 21st century medicine, which includes a major shift in demographics to an aging population suffering from more chronic illnesses that will boost demand for health care.
     At the same time, a major nursing shortage is expected with federal estimates projecting the nation will have 29 percent fewer nurses than it needs by 2020.
     In Oregon, the shortage could reach 50 percent, Tanner said.
     "It's a little bit scary," she said.
     The situation is made worse by the fact that most nursing faculty are older than practicing nurses and are closer to retirement, educators say.
     "Our pipeline is running dry because the average age is about 57 to 58 — that's ancient," said Susan Hassmiller, senior nursing advisor for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
     But there is no shortage of applicants. Nursing schools across the country were forced to turn away nearly 50,000 qualified applicants last year, partly because of the faculty shortage, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
     Adding to the discouragement for applicants is an unusally tight job market created by the recession and budget cuts at hospitals and clinics, educators say.
     The market is even tighter, they say, because many experienced nurses who dropped out of the work force or reduced their hours to part-time have re-entered the market full-time to support their families during the recession.
     But educators warn that will change quickly and dramatically when the recession is over and the demand for nurses spikes.
     "People who have stepped in to temporarily ease this shortage are people between 50 and 64," Hassmiller said.
     "Now, if you can imagine in a year, or two or three, that this recession ends, people are going to step out," she said. "So I'm really actually more afraid of what's going to happen demographically when this temporary easing is over."
     Major hospitals are already planning for ways to cope, said Carol Bradley, chief nursing officer and a senior vice president for the Legacy Health System in Portland.
     But she says it will also take improvement in faculty salaries to attract more teachers along with support for programs like the Oregon consortium.
     "It's just a fact you can make more money in the practice arena, so that's a major issue that our academic partners are trying to address to move those salaries forward," Bradley said.
     In addition to Oregon, Tanner said the conference includes California, Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Washington.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.