Washington is in the midst of a nursing shortage predicted to worsen in the coming decades.
Every county in the state feels the effects – at hospital emergency departments, medical offices, homes, long-term care facilities and schools. The shortage affects everyone’s ability to receive quality health care, if not today, then in the near future.
Washington has more than 5,000 registered nursing vacancies, according to the state Department of Labor. Imagine 5,000 open jobs begging to be filled in today’s economy.
Why so many vacancies? Part of the answer lies in gaps in nursing education. Programs at private colleges, the University of Washington, Washington State University and community colleges are critical in training nurses to fill these positions with high-quality professionals.
In recent years, all colleges in Washington have had to turn away student nurse applicants because the educational system hasn’t had the resources to support them. And adding to the problem is the fact that proposed budget cuts threaten the state’s already struggling higher-education system.
With the complexity of the field and the demand for expert care, we cannot limit our ability to prepare potential nurses. Budget cuts this year will only diminish the already dwindling capacity of our state institutions to educate nurses.
There is hope. In early 2008, the Washington Center for Nursing submitted to the state Department of Health a master plan for transforming nursing education in Washington. At the foundation of the plan is extensive research conducted statewide with nurses, nurse educators and others within the profession.
The research tells a story of an educational system in need – one that is struggling to graduate enough nurses to meet the demand. It describes programs at capacity with classroom space and available faculty.
The plan’s recommendations focus on four core areas – competency, supply, diversity and distribution – and include helping current nurses and nursing students to pursue more education and alleviating the shortage of faculty with higher salaries, broader recruitment efforts, mentoring and teaching resources.
Funding cuts could hinder the efforts to implement these recommendations and hurt Washington’s ability to build the future of health care for our residents.
We all expect to receive quality care when we need it. Without exceptional educational programs, supplying a qualified nursing workforce would be near impossible.
With many of today’s nurses approaching retirement – even as baby boomers grow older – the already unmet need will get worse. If nothing changes by the year 2020, the nursing shortage is projected to reach as high as 30,000 openings. To meet the growing demand, graduation rates would have to increase by 400 per year, every year, for the next 15 years.
At a time when the economy is struggling and people are losing their jobs, nursing offers stable employment. Supporting educational programs will ensure the future of nursing and health care in Washington and stimulate our economy in a time of need.
State legislators and decision-makers face tough decisions as they try to do make do with less. Cuts will have to be made somewhere, but compromising the future of nursing in Washington is no solution. We must continue to invest in nursing education for the sake of the health of our citizens.
Linda Tieman, a registered nurse, is executive director of the Seattle-based Washington Center for Nursing, which works to ensure an adequate nursing work force for Washington.
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