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In 2020, the U.S. will need 1.7 million nurses, yet the supply is projected to be just 600,000 – a third of the need.
According to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) projections, Florida will need 34,000 additional registered nurses (RNs) by 2006. The Florida Department of Labor and Employment Security (FDLES) predictions are similar: the demand for RNs will grow from 120,700 to 156,100 in the next decade, a 29.3 percent increase.
Preliminary 2001 RN vacancy rates show an estimated 9,000 vacant positions statewide - a 16.2 percent vacancy rate. Central Florida looks worse: an estimated 725 of the 9,000 vacancies – or a 20 percent vacancy rate – are in Central Florida. According to the Florida Hospital Association (FHA), a "healthy" vacancy rate runs between six and seven percent.
Nurses are the frontline caregivers and the ones who are trusted most by patients. They are also the largest employee group in hospitals, totaling 26 percent of all hospital employees. The challenge lies not only in nursing retention but also in recruitment to the profession: the need for RNs, especially in critical care, is increasing much faster than new RNs are coming into the field.
Where have our nurses gone? Fewer are going into the nursing profession while current nurses are retiring. The average age of today’s nurses is 48, meaning that many will be lost to retirement in the next two decades.
Why are fewer people going into nursing? Many people have lost interest in the field and there are more work opportunities for women outside of healthcare. Those in the profession cite low salaries, undesirable work schedules, increased paperwork and limited job growth as reasons for the nursing shortage. Other factors contributing to the shortage in Florida include:
Plus enrollment in bachelor degree nursing programs continue to decrease nationally. Florida’s nursing school graduations fell 38 percent between 1996 and 1998. According to figures from the Florida Board of Nursing, approximately 6,700 people graduated from the state’s nursing schools in 1995; only about 3,900 earned nursing degrees in 1999.
Florida Hospital is meeting the current need through a variety of methods, which have been developed in a collaborative effort between employees and supervisors. These efforts include voluntary employee overtime, travel nurses, adding more qualified nursing assistants to perform tasks such as bathing patients and changing linens, etc. It is anticipated that optimal patient care will continue to be provided. As a result, RNs will be able to focus more on providing direct medical care that is within their scope of responsibility, and is reflective of the knowledge and expertise that is required of these key members of the healthcare delivery team.
"Sometimes patients experience inconveniences – such as having surgeries rescheduled or having to wait a few extra minutes when they ring their call bells – but the quality of care remains the absolute key priority," said Chief Nursing Officer Connie Hamilton. "We will not allow quality of care to be lost."
Florida Hospital’s leadership is working with officials from FHA, other area hospitals and the colleges and universities to develop strategies to solve the nursing shortage. Efforts include retention and recruiting strategies and attracting new students into the profession.
The first and foremost consideration at Florida Hospital is that of retaining current staff.
"Redefining the role of the nurse and making the job more satisfying are the issues that need to be addressed," Regional Vice President for Florida Hospital Richard Morrison said. "Certainly, recruiting efforts are important, but the retention of our current staff needs to be our top priority."
Therefore, with employee input, a number of programs have been modified or initiated to assist current staff in staying in their current roles, or expand their expertise by working in another role within the nursing profession at Florida Hospital. One is the Professional Practice Model which provides additional compensation for staff who expand their skills while creating an environment that attracts and retains the highest caliber of caregivers.
On the recruitment side, Florida Hospital’s efforts include a comprehensive range of educational, compensation, and innovative employee relations programs. Employee referral bonuses and recruitment/sign-on bonuses have been increased, there are significant pay differentials for second and third shifts, tuition reimbursement, extremely innovative and varied educational programs that transition RNs to new areas of expertise and support new graduate nurses coming into the profession. Nurses and nursing instructors regularly visit central Florida middle and high schools to encourage students to pursue nursing careers. Job-shadowing opportunities are also being offered.
Area colleges and universities are working to attract new students into the profession, as well as re-recruit those who may have left the field for other careers. Nursing schools are recruiting additional faculty to expand the number of nursing school slots available.
Florida Hospital, along with other hospitals in central Florida are helping with the effort by providing funding for increased faculty positions, as well as for the recruitment and development of new faculty.
In May of this year, the Florida Hospital Association hosted a collaborative media summit with reporters and news directors from television, radio and newspaper outlets from Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties as part of a community-wide education initiative. Nursing leaders from all local hospitals, the Florida Nurses’ Association, the Florida Organization of Nurse Executives, Valencia Community College, the University of Central Florida and Seminole Community College gathered to educate the media about the complexity and uniqueness of this shortage; and to urge them to help providers and educators enhance the image of the nursing profession. While there are no clear cut, immediate fixes to the nursing shortage, all of these efforts are designed to deal with the shortage – now and in the years to come.
Sources:
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) State Health Workforce Profiles, Dec. 2000
Florida Hospital Association Nurse Staffing Supply Survey, 2001
Florida Board of Nursing
This Health Issues release
is located on the Internet at: http://www.floridahospital.org/
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