Aug 27, 2008 11:27 pm US/Eastern
Maryland Still Needs Thousands Of Nurses
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
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The number of students going to nursing schools is increasing, but the Maryland Hospital Association says it is not keeping up with the demand as baby boomers get older.
The number of students going into nursing school is going up, but it's not enough. Aging nurses and baby boomers are causing a health crisis.
Kelly McPherson explains how Maryland hospitals are trying to stay afloat.
The number of students going to nursing schools is increasing, but the Maryland Hospital Association says it is not keeping up with the demand as baby boomers get older.
Hospitals need nurses. In Maryland, we need thousands.
"Hospitals have many vacant, open, funded positions, but are just simply unable to recruit the qualified nurses to fill those positions," said Sharon Bottcher, Director of Patient Care at Union Memorial Hospital.
Nationally, eight percent of funded nursing positions are vacant. In Maryland, it's higher--10%.
It's not recruitment. It's training enough nurses with limited faculty. The Maryland Hospital Association is creating partnerships with hospitals and universities to focus on education.
"The objective is to double the number of nurses educated in Maryland schools," said Jeanne DeCosmo from Union Memorial.
At Union Memorial, the vacancy rate is just under five percent. That's less than the statewide average. Part of the reason is working with extems. Those are students who are just about to graduate from nursing school.
"They have an opportunity to get to know Union Memorial, how we work. We have an opportunity to really get to know them very well. The hope, then, is that once they graduate from their program, that they'll continue on with us," Bottcher said.
About 80% stay on board. Still, 18 positions are just waiting to be filled. That means work is spread among fewer people.
Right now, Maryland is short 2,600 nurses. If the crisis is not solved, it will increase to a 10,000 shortfall within 10 years.
One way hospital-college partnerships could work is if hospitals agree to fund faculty salaries in order to compete with the well-paid positions on the nursing floor.
Union Memorial and others in the state association are focusing on paying faculty to teach future nurses. Right now, a first-year nurse makes $25 an hour. Salaries in the classroom are competing with those salaries.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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