Nursing Education in Georgia

1

• Nursing Education in Georgia
• Context, Strategies, and Progress
• Daniel W. Rahn, MD
• President - Medical College of Georgia
• Senior Vice Chancellor for Health and Medical
  Programs University System of Georgia

October 2007
2
National Context

• Estimated 2.5 million nurses employed in the
  United States
• Due to demographic, economic, and technological
  forces, demand outstrips supply
• Current shortage now in its 10th year is
  worst shortage in 50 years
• Estimated shortfall ranges widely
• 340,000 (Auerbach, Buerhaus, Staiger 2007)
• 1,016,000 (HRSA 2004)
• 800,000 (HRSA 2002)
• Even at lowest estimates, the shortage is enough
  to incapacitate the nations health care system

3
External Forces

• Demographic Forces
• Baby boom generation will consume more health
  resources
• Smaller size of next generation means fewer
  workers entering workforce
• Increasing professional options have reduced
  numbers of women entering nursing and men are not
  entering profession in sufficient numbers to
  replace them
• Nursing workforce is aging (46.8 years average
  age)
• Also ? Shifting values and faculty shortages

4
Georgia Context

• Same external forces are at play in Georgia
• GROWING POPULATION ? Population projected to
  increase by 1.8 million (20) over next ten years
• AGING POPULATION ? By 2015, 14 of Georgias
  population will be over the age of 65
• CHANGING POPULATION ? Racial and ethnic
  minorities will comprise 40 of total population

5
Georgia Context

• One of the nations largest states, Georgia ranks
  19th in production of new nurses
• In 2006, University System of Georgia
  institutions produced nearly 80 percent of the
  pre-licensure nursing graduates in the state
• From 1996 to 2006, total number of undergraduate
  nursing degrees conferred declined 23 percent
• 20,000 additional registered nurses will be
  needed in Georgia by 2012 (Georgia Department of
  Labor 2006)
• If Georgia continues RN production at current
  pace, well experience estimated shortfall of
  8,000 nurses in 2012 (USG Task Force on Health
  Professions Education 2006)

6
The Challenge

• HOW DOES A STATE RESPOND TO ENSURE ADEQUATE
  NURSING WORKFORCE TO MEET DEMANDS FOR HEALTH CARE
  SERVICES TODAY AND INTO THE FUTURE?

7
Georgias Key Strategies

• ICAPP Health Professionals Initiative
• Health workforce development program launched in
  July 2002
• University System of Georgia Task Force on Health
  Professions Education
• Appointed in September 2005 to analyze future
  needs and inform decision-making to address the
  health professions education needs of the state
• Nursing Education Task Force
• Formed in August 2006 to study current nurse
  education infrastructure and make recommendations
  to address the nursing shortage in Georgia

8
ICAPP HealthProfessionals Initiative

• Program matches private sector health care
  providers with public colleges and universities
  to produce fast-track graduates in nursing,
  medical technology and pharmacy
• meets just-in-time needs of the business
  community
• More than ½ of USG institutions have participated
• Projects involve USG institutions and one or more
  employer partners usually hospitals
• Projects are statewide
• Approximately 2,100 new health professionals
  expected by the end of phase III in December 2008
• 1,800 new nurses

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Task Force on HealthProfessions Education

• Charged to document critical areas of shortage,
  consider demographic and economic influences,
  examine current and future challenges, and
  identify programmatic strengths and educational
  gaps
• Submitted final report June 2006
• Led to creation of Senior Vice Chancellor
  position
• Goals ? promote innovation, streamline planning,
  support coordination, avoid duplication, monitor
  outcomes, reward performance
• Nursing is an area of great need and a great
  opportunity to add value at the System level

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Nursing EducationTask Force

• COMPOSITION broadly inclusive
• Chaired by Dean of Nursing at MCG the states
  only public health sciences university
• Twelve representatives from other University
  System of Georgia institutions, the Georgia Board
  of Nursing, the Department of Technical and Adult
  Education, and the Georgia Area Health Education
  Centers
• Other stakeholders
• Georgia Hospital Association, Georgia Department
  of Human Resources, Division of Public Health,
  and the states private nursing programs

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Nursing EducationTask Force

• ORGANIZATION focused on key issues
• Faculty ? identify issues related to recruiting
  and retaining sufficient numbers of high quality
  faculty
• Students ? identify major issues that impact the
  production of new nurse graduates in Georgia and
  propose and implement solutions to barriers
• Curriculum ? identify and address curricular
  issues influencing retention and graduation rates
• Clinical Education Partnerships ? identify
  opportunities to expand capacity for clinical
  placements of nursing students
• Research and Data Development ? assist subgroups
  with collection and analysis of data to inform
  decision-making

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Nursing EducationTask Force

• OVERARCHING GOAL more nurses
• Increase by 50 the number of new registered
  nurses prepared in the USG by 2010 through growth
  and efficiencies
• Translates to 800 to 900 new nursing students in
  Georgia, bringing USG total to approximately
  2,700
• Effort currently supported by 3 million
  strategic allocation, which was awarded to 16 USG
  campuses in a competitive grant process
• Enrollment target ? 40 increase by 2010
• Builds on the success of the ICAPP Health
  Professionals Initiative

13
Nursing EducationTask Force

• Important first year success
• Enhanced statewide collaboration and programmatic
  integration
• Other goals relate to
• Increased retention rates
• Decreased cost per graduate
• Increased regional collaboration
• Enhanced environment for data-based health work
  policy- and decision-making

14
Key Observationsfor the Future

• Complexity of the health system, educational
  environment, and health care and higher education
  financing require multifaceted approach to
  planning and addressing shortages
• Solutions are likely to be incremental but we
  must begin to reach consensus on how to address
  major issues impacting the US health care system
• Addressing workforce issues will require
  addressing issues related to health care costs,
  scope of practice, inter-professional practice,
  and others

15
A Call to Action

• Help repair the strained social contract between
  the health care workforce and the public
• Recognize that the shortage of health
  professionals is a national issue
• Advocate for support of health workforce
  development particularly faculty development
• Create new partnerships and alliances in the
  private sector for education, workforce
  development, and technology development
• And, elect leaders at the national, state, and
  local levels who view the preparation of the
  health professionals of the future as a national
  priority

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Food for Thought

• The most significant challenge facing the health
  care system is not the impact of individual
  issues such as rising costs, the burden of the
  uninsured, and workforce shortages, but rather
  the inability of decision makers to reach
  consensus on how to address them.
• paraphrased from Robert J. Blendons Future
  Health Care Challenges (published in Issues in
  Science and Technology, Summer 2003)
• The significant problems we have cannot be
  solved at the same level of thinking with which
  we created them.
• generally attributed to Albert Einstein,
  theoretical physicist