Need For Change

It is evident that there a national shortage of nurses. Estimated projections show a dismal future if no attempts are made to alleviate the pressures that are driving nurses out of the profession and accommodate increasing student interest and enrollment.
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) estimates the supply of nurses in America will fall 36 percent below requirements by the year 2020, and that RNs leaving the workforce will outpace those entering the profession by 2016. According to The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) survey, data from 2006-2007 showed that nursing colleges and universities denied admission to 42,866 qualified applicants due to insufficient faculty (71%), and full admission seats(74%). Additionally, a lack of funding forced the HRSA to turn away 82 percent of the applicants for the Nurse Education Loan Repayment Program (NELRP), and another 94 percent for the Nursing Scholarship Program.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Our position:

We support this bill, and see the need for further nursing education, more student loans, and an increased number of faculty members to meet our country's growing nursing demand.

Our political action plan:

  • contact key stakeholders (specifically our nurse educators, the professors of JMU) and encourage them to get involved with this bill
  • research current articles pertaining to this bill
  • try to understand the opposition, as well as the pros and cons of the bill
  • contact supporters and examine their efforts and action plans
  • contact our VA legislators and encourage them to support the bill
  • write an editorial to local newspapers to get our thoughts to the community
Key stakeholders:

  • Students
  • Professors
  • Nurses
  • Hospitals
  • Health care facilities
  • Educational Institutes
  • Patients

Scholarly evidence:

  • The National League for Nursing (NLN) website provides the Tri-Council Testimony to Congress that dealt with appropriations for nursing education and research. The testimony presented the "statement on Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act, (Nurse Education Act or NEA), that provides for nursing workforce development." The group supported increased funding for the Nursing Education Act. Details can be found at the following URL: http://www.nln.org//aboutnln/news_testimony.htm
  • The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Professionals and National Center for Health Workforce Analysis published a report, Projected Supply, Demand, and Shortages of Registered Nurses: 2000 - 2020 illustrating current national supply and demand projections.
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1 comment:

Craig Wilson said...

I think as nursing students, we can most certainly attest to everything mentioned in this excerpt. We have all experienced how difficult it was in order to be accepted into a nursing program. We all performed extremely well in order to even be considered potential candidates for the nursing program. In our nurse leadership class our professor had mentioned that approximately 83,000 qualified nursing students are rejected each year because there are not enough faculty members to support the high demands of those wanting to become a nurse. I feel that the nursing shortage is a result of the lack instructors who can educate.

October 16, 2008 at 9:16 PM

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