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By Susan Caba
Registered nursing is the top occupation in terms of projected job
growth through the year 2012 in this country, with more than a million
nurses needed to fill new jobs and replace retiring nurses, according
to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Other healthcare fields—pharmacy, physical therapy and home
healthcare, to name a few—also promise vigorous growth. In
the next five years, the demand for healthcare workers will increase
by 25 percent, due to an aging population.
Unfortunately, there won’t be enough workers to fill those
critical jobs. A study by the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
suggests that the nursing shortage could approach 800,000 positions
by the year 2020.
 Southwestern Illinois College graduate Julie Drury and nursing education student Rebecca Chaput
participate in clinical duties. |
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“Trends indicate that without innovations, hospitals will face
critical workforce shortages throughout the next 20 years,” says Marc Smith, president of the Missouri Hospital Association,
a not-for-profit association of 140 hospitals.
“The workforce problem is one that we must address today,”
Smith says, announcing a $500,000 scholarship program for fast-track
nursing and allied health programs earlier this year. “Hospitals
are facing an aging baby boomer population, an aging workforce and
a reduced pool of young people entering the allied health professions.”
Missouri and Illinois nursing schools are doing their best to address
those shortages, with the cooperation of state hospitals and health-related
professional associations.
The Saint Louis University School of Nursing (now part of the Doisy
College of Health Sciences) has had a one-year Bachelor’s of
Science in Nursing program since 1971—at the time, the only
program of its type in the nation. The University of Missouri-St.
Louis added a similar accelerated degree program in 2000, and both
Barnes-Jewish College of Nursing and Allied Health and Maryville
University began offering accelerated programs last year. Nationwide,
168 schools now have accelerated training programs to speed the
increase in health professionals.
Courtney Landgraf practices drawing blood during an IV lab from Kim Wall
as fellow Saint Louis University nursing students Nisha Vermani, left, and Genise Walker observe. |
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The MHA’s Health Professions Scholarship program, funded by
Missouri hospitals, has awarded 340 scholarships since 2002. The
program’s initial goal was to encourage students to enter the
health professions and complete their degrees quickly at a time
when enrollments were down. Now that schools are faced with waiting
lists for their programs, the scholarship program is being re-evaluated
to see how the money can best be used.
In Illinois, Southwestern Illinois College, and Lewis and Clark
Community College are among several participating in the state’s
Critical Skills Shortage Initiative, aimed at alleviating worker
shortages. The schools cooperate to increase enrollment capacity
and curriculum. Lewis and Clark added a new nursing building and
created programs in massage therapy and exercise science.
The efforts have been successful—the number of new nurses graduating
has increased over the past four years, after
several years of decline. And graduates of bistate healthcare programs
are in high demand. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,
the average registered nurse in St. Louis earns $49,000 a year,
more than $11,000 above the average for all occupations. Newly graduated
pharmacists earn between $80,000 and $90,000. In addition to good
salaries, these new graduates are often receiving generous signing
bonuses.
But solving the shortage is not as simple as recruiting more potential
nurses and other healthcare professionals. There is also a shortage
of healthcare educators and an acute shortage of facilities for
hands-on training. Nursing colleges and universities had to turn
away more than 26,000 applicants in 2004, according to the American
Association of the Colleges of Nursing.
“The nursing faculty are getting older and there are not enough
facilities for training,” says Mary Becker, MHA senior vice
president of strategic communication and research. “Some of
the schools have issues with classroom spaces or clinical lab spaces.
And those nurses have to be trained in a clinical cycle at some
point. We are trying to encourage the schools to do more on the
evenings and weekends, when the hospitals can accommodate the students.”
Recently, says Becker, hospitals and nursing schools have begun
collaborating in an unusual way—hospitals are lending nurses
to the schools as faculty, at the expense of the hospital. In return,
the schools agree to expand capacity. The program is in its early
stages, and it’s not easy for hospitals, because they are already
short-staffed. But they are willing to make the sacrifice for the
long-term benefits, Becker says.
| Maryville University student Elissa Meyer (left) with graduate teaching assistant Andrea Elder. |
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Late last year (2005), a coalition of healthcare industry, education
and business representatives formed the St. Louis Healthcare Workforce
Partnership to determine what more can be done to increase the number
of new healthcare professionals. Carm Moceri of Missouri Baptist
Medical Center says the strategic oversight committee (which also
has RCGA representatives) will identify issues affecting supply
and demand in the healthcare workforce and help address those issues.
“Collaboration among community partners is the key to addressing
this issue,” says Moceri. “The hospital community is interested
in working more closely with the educational system to raise awareness
about healthcare careers among young people, their teachers and
parents. We must develop mutually beneficial programs and services
that will position us to address this significant challenge for
the communities we serve.”
In addition to local, regional and state efforts, the Missouri healthcare
community is pushing Congress to protect funding for nursing education.
President Bush has proposed cuts in the Nursing Student Loan 192.168.1.100
and Nursing Education Loan Repayment programs to offset spending
on Hurricane Katrina relief. The programs help pay for nursing education,
recruitment and retention.
All these efforts are necessary, says MHA’s president, to meet
the increasing demand for qualified nurses and other professionals.
“A quality workforce,” says Smith, “is essential
to quality care.”
PHARMACISTS
ALSO IN HIGH DEMAND;
St.
Louis College of Pharmacy at Peak Enrollment
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Demand
for pharmacists is also skyrocketing, with some
new graduates being offered signing bonuses—like three-year
pre-paid leases on BMWs and other luxury cars—in addition
to starting salaries between $80,000 and $90,000.
That demand is reflected in the enrollment figures at the
St. Louis College of Pharmacy. Just seven years ago, fall
enrollment was 72 students—not even the maximum capacity
at the school. Since then, the number of students has grown
steadily, to 252 in the fall of 2004 and 243 in the fall of
last year (the lower figure reflects a decision by the school
to limit the number of admissions). Students at St. Louis
College of Pharmacy have the second highest average ACT scores
in the city, just behind those at Washington University. And
their incoming grade point averages have risen from 3.45 in
1997 to 3.77 last year.
The existing shortage of pharmacists is expected to worsen,
says school spokeswoman Jeryldine Tully, because of changes
in Medicare that will give pharmacists an expanding role in
medical treatment of the elderly.
In light of that demand, the St. Louis College of Pharmacy
spent $42 million to upgrade its campus over the past two
and a half years, renovating existing buildings and adding
new ones, and outfitting the facilities with the latest in
scientific equipment and multi-media systems. The school also
completed a capital campaign which netted more than $11 million,
surpassing its goal of $10 million. Approximately 2,600 people
contributed to the campaign which was kicked off by a $2 million
donation from Dennis and Judy Jones.
| Meredith Morrell, a fifth-year student in St. Louis College of Pharmacy’s six-year program. |
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