10/06/10 – Nursing Summit Builds on Successes
by Jean ScholzPresident and CEO, Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence
Among the health care challenges Colorado faces is that of combating emerging shortages in the nursing workforce. If left unabated, an aging nursing population and a restricted number of nursing school graduates – caused by faculty and clinical space shortages – combine to create access to care problems. Fortunately, Colorado's health care community is addressing these challenges with thoughtful collaboration and smart policymaking.
Last month, the Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence teamed up with the The Colorado Trust, the Colorado Health Foundation, Colorado Community College System and over 100 participants representing nursing organizations, employers and public agencies to hold a summit on the future of nursing and nursing education. The summit was the first of its kind in Colorado to bring such a broad coalition together to address challenges in the nursing workforce, taking into account not just the workforce issues, but also the implications of health care reform and the state's fiscal challenges.
Over the next 10 years, Colorado's total population will increase by one million, with over 400,000 of these individuals being age 65 or older. At the same time, 32% of Colorado nurses (20,000) and 50% of its nursing faculty will retire. Without intervention to improve the way nurses are educated, faculty are supported and health care providers collaborate to support clinical education, Colorado will face an increasing shortage of nurses and decreasing access to care.
Summit participants were asked to design a future for nursing and nursing education in Colorado that both meets the state's workforce needs and inspires support from key stakeholders. More than 250 ideas were generated, including greater collaboration among nursing education providers and health care employers, and improving patient care through better transitions from nursing school to a nurse's first job.
The work of the Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence provides a helpful roadmap to build on some of these ideas. Through support from The Colorado Trust and other funders, we have provided loan forgiveness funds and faculty education to 25 schools of nursing. This has led to the recruitment of 48 new faculty members and an increase in schools' retention of 97% of their faculty – compared to 82% in 2008. As well, the Center has trained 550 clinical scholars whose role is to provide clinical instruction and mentor new nursing graduates in hospital settings.
None of these efforts in isolation will reverse the growing potential for nursing shortages. However, the collective recognition of emerging workforce challenges, more focus on collaboration among key stakeholders and a broader willingness to work together towards shared solutions is a promising trend in averting critical nursing shortages and advancing greater access to health for all Coloradans.
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