Focus on pay, training to attract more nurses
Thank you for your editorial introducing the long-standing nursing shortage in the state of Illinois. As you appropriately illustrated, one of the contributing factors to the shortage is the need to create incentives for nurse educators to continue teaching the next generation of nurses.
Other factors related to nursing education also need to be explored. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing reports that over 56,000 qualified candidates were turned away from schools of nursing in 2017. Salaries for nursing faculty play a large role in the ability to build programs.
Nursing schools also struggle for funding to create sophisticated learning environments using high-tech simulation. Hospitals willingly oblige schools of nursing to accommodate student rotations because it is consistent with their obligation to serve their commuities. Hospitals and other healthcare entities support nursing education by providing licensed nurses to teach and oversee the practice of student nurses without any additional funding.
Government funding should be allocated to healthcare organizations to develop a cadre of nurses who are specifically trained to help educate students in the clinical setting and to partner with schools to share resources to expand faculty opportunities.
Nurses provide an invaluable service to society. The planning for the Ebola response, and the actual implementation of plans to reduce exposure for healthcare personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrated that nurses are the only profession who cannot significantly reduce or avoid exposure because of the nature of the personal and scientific care they provide.
Current legislation directed at mandating nurse staffing ratios is misguided. Nurses should be allowed to create their own staffing models as professionals and legislation should focus on providing funding to ensure we can provide an adequate supply of nurses, nurse educators, hospital support for nursing education and nursing salaries.
Peggy Norton-Rosko
Sugar Gove