BARBARA CARBAUGH

It's no surprise to anyone in the healthcare profession that there is a critical shortage of nurses. In Florida, the growth of our aging population creates challenges, not only in terms of patients but nurses as well. Here is a current look at the situation in our community.

The Facts

President Bush's budget proposal for fiscal year 2008 proposes to cut funding for the Health Resources and Services Administration's (HRSA) Nursing Workforce Development Programs by 30 percent. According to the American Nurses Association (ANA) federal support for nursing workforce development has decreased since 2005, while the national nursing shortage has deepened. The Department of Labor (DOL) reported in the 2006-07 edition of the Occupational Outlook Handbook that RNs are projected to create the second largest number of new jobs among all U.S. occupations in the decade between 2004 and 2014. During this time, America's demand for RNs will grow 29 percent, and domestic schools of nursing will need to produce 1.2 million new RNs to accommodate growing patient needs and to replace retirees.

According to the Florida Center for Nursing (FCN), a study released January 2007 revealed that approximately 40 percent of the state's licensed nurse population is over the age of 51 and about 14 percent of those nurses are over the age of 61. The average age of nurses in Florida was 46.6 for LPNs, 47.5 for RNs and 48.2 for ARNPs.

If most nurses retire by age 60, Florida can expect to lose more than 40 percent of its currently licensed RN population over the next decade. It is unlikely, given the smaller cohorts of nurses in generations following the baby boomers that newly licensed nurse cohorts will be able to compensate for these losses. In addition, the mass retirement of a large proportion of experienced nurses may result in a "brain drain" whereby the remaining nurse workforce is not only smaller but also substantially lacking in experienced mentors for new nurses.

The FCN study goes on to assert that investigation of regional differences in the state's nurse population underscore the need to consider nursing supply and demand at sub-state levels. The extent of a nursing shortage, as well as effective solutions to the shortage, will need to be assessed and implemented at regional levels. These considerations mean that accurate sub-state nurse workforce supply and demand estimates are critical for strategic planning.

On the local level, according to the FCN study, we have nearly 39,600 RNs in the Central Florida area including Orange, Seminole, Lake, Osceola and Sumter counties. The average age of the RNs is 46.54 and average number of years RNs have been licensed in Florida is 12.43.

So what is being done to attract nurses to the Sunshine State?

There is an abundance of recruitment venues available for nurses near and far. Web sites abound. A recent Google search of nursing jobs in Florida revealed nearly 3.3 million results. Individual entries boast "choose your career, 1,544 jobs" or "622 hot jobs!" One of the sites, MedHunters, claims to be the world's largest healthcare job board and listed a need for 613 nurses in Florida. Creative copy, beautiful photos and impressive weather statistics all lure potential nurses to our state.

To give some local perspective, well-known job seeker websites Career Builder, Monster and Yahoo Hot Jobs offer impressive results for central Florida nursing jobs: 355, 90 and 355, respectively. Healthcare-specific recruitment websites are generally more detailed and comprehensive. MedHunters (MH), NursingJobs.org (NJO) and Nurse.com (NC) allow the candidate to specify his or her specialty along with key words and locations. A recent search identified 67 opportunities through MH, 20 through NJO, and 97 available through NC.

Incentives are key and range far beyond the standard compensation packages including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability, vacation time and retirement plans. In the health and wellness category, offerings include same-sex domestic partner coverage, discounts at health clubs and on laser eye surgery, flexible spending accounts and free flu shots. Other perks include immigration assistance, free onsite continuing education credits and discounted test prep courses, tuition reimbursement, scholarships and adoption assistance. Some employers offer on-site childcare and sick-child day care. Corporate discount programs include childcare, computers, event tickets, flowers, pre-paid legal and wireless services. Not to mention cash incentives, which have various fulfillment requirements and range from $500 to $5,000 just for signing on.

How can we create more nurses in our community?

There are at least eight colleges in central Florida that offer nursing programs. Five of the eight have been accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) and the Florida Board of Nursing. The most comprehensive nursing program available locally is at the University of Central Florida (UCF), College of Health and Public Affairs. Their program is accredited not only by NLNAC, but also by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).

Availability of programs, however, does not seem to be the most prevalent issue. "We don't have enough resources to accommodate all the students who are qualified," said Jean Kijek, RN, PhD, graduate programs coordinator at UCF.

"We don't have enough faculty to teach in the classroom or in the clinical setting," Kijek said. In the clinical setting, the staff to student ratio is 1:10 and even smaller in the more critical units where more direct supervision is necessary.

While associate programs can help put nurses in positions where they are so desperately needed, recent literature suggests that baccalaureate graduates are what is truly needed in today's healthcare marketplace. "Baccalaureate graduates are more prepared to address the level of acuity/criticalness and they also reduce the number of errors," Kijek commented.

For more information on nursing careers or nursing schools visit:www.DiscoverNursing.com, www.allnursingschools.com, and www.cohpa.ucf.edu.



May 2007