Successful organizations have a highly
engaged work force of loyal, exceptional employees who enjoy their jobs and are eager to make a difference. With serious staff shortages plaguing our nation’s hospitals, creating such an environment is an
enormous challenge, especially in California,
the state facing the most severe shortages in
nursing and other medical personnel.
Government data projects a national shortage of 1 million nurses and 90,000 doctors by
2020. California, with the least nurses per
population, is in need of an additional 116,600
new nurses by 2020. Our state ranks 50th,
with 622 registered nurse (RN) jobs per
100,000 population, compared with 787 RN
jobs per 100,000 population nationally.
Smart Business spoke to Barry Arbuckle,
Ph.D., President and CEO of MemorialCare
Medical Centers and chair of the California
Hospital Association Board of Trustees, to
learn more about this health care crisis.
How serious is the situation?
Unless addressed head-on, hospitals will
experience cutbacks in services due to lack
of qualified clinicians. Hard-to-fill positions
range from RNs, nurse educators, pharmacists, clinical laboratory specialists, and respiratory, physical and occupational therapists to technologists in nuclear medicine,
radiology, histology, surgery, imaging, coding,
business and information services, and more.
An aging work force impacts an industry
facing massive retirements. By 2010, about
40 percent of the nursing work force will be
over 50, while nurses under age 30 account
for just 8 percent. Add to that an aging population with multiple health care needs.
We must improve satisfaction, lifelong
learning, mentoring programs and services
that retain staff and create environments
where employees can thrive. At the same
time, we need to identify innovations to educate and train new needed personnel.
Is there interest in the helping professions?
Shortages don’t result from a lack of interest but insufficient educational capacity. In
California in 2005, 8,749 slots for nursing students filled to 98 percent capacity with more
than 14,000 potential students turned away.
Nationally, tens of thousands of student
applicants are rejected because of insufficient numbers of faculty members and inadequate academic funding. Hospitals receive
federal funding for medical education, but
there’s no support for nurse training.
What is the cost to health care providers?
Shortages lead to a dependency on registry
and temporary personnel costing in the millions of dollars (see MemorialCare’s January
2008 column). Even credit agencies have gotten in the act. Moody’s Investors Service,
which rates creditworthiness of 550 nonprofit hospitals, considers RN recruitment and
retention when assigning its ratings.
How is MemorialCare helping the situation?
On any day, hundreds of students learn and
train on our hospital campuses. One example
began in 2003 when we developed a unique
partnership with California State University,
Long Beach (CSULB). At that time, its bachelor’s degree in nursing program was educating 72 students per year. Budget cuts meant
reductions to 48 — far short of the more than 400 students listing nursing as their desired
major. To alleviate this problem, our hospitals — led by Long Beach Memorial Medical
Center and Miller Children’s Hospital —
entered into a partnership with $10 million
provided by our hospitals and $5 million by
CSULB. The result is a nationally regarded
accelerated bachelor of science in nursing
degree where students train at our new satellite college campus adjacent to our largest
hospital campus and in our hospitals.
Partnerships with Long Beach City College,
Saddleback Community College and Golden
West College increase numbers of nursing
students and offer inpatient training sites.
Academic partnerships help hospital nurses
advance from associate to bachelor’s degrees
to master’s degrees in nursing — critical to
meeting demands in nursing education.
Other partnerships educate and train
nuclear medicine techs at CSULB; cytotechnicians at UCLA; laboratory techs and occupational and physical therapists at California
State University, Dominguez Hills; histology
techs at Mt. San Antonio College; information techs at Devry University; surgical techs
at Long Beach City College; and respiratory
therapists at Orange Coast College. A new
BSN program with University of California,
Irvine School of Nursing begins this fall.
MemorialCare also partners with university
medical schools like UCI and UCLA to offer
extensive physician training programs.
What can employers do to help?
Because a shortage of health care providers
is a cost we all bear, employers should encourage policymakers to advocate for activities that address shortages, expand coverage
for the uninsured and provide a more equitable reimbursement for the hospitals and
providers entrusted with the care of our communities. Offer scholarships for students
wishing to pursue degrees in health care.
Consider donations, grants and other assistance to nursing schools and other programs
to increase slots available for future health
care professionals and clinical educators.
BARRY ARBUCKLE, Ph.D., is president and CEO of MemorialCare Medical Centers (www.memorialcare.org) and chair of the California
Hospital Association. Reach him at [email protected] or (562) 933-9708. MemorialCare Medical Centers include Saddleback
Memorial in Laguna Hills and San Clemente, Orange Coast Memorial in Fountain Valley, Anaheim Memorial, Long Beach Memorial and
Miller Children’s Hospital in Long Beach.