While many debate the pros and cons of the new

Health Care Bill, it seems it will include programs

that may benefit nursing.

Some of the provisions that will most directly affect nurses are under the Reauthorization of Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs. These programs, under the Public Health Service Act, are the primary source of federal funding for nursing education and help insure that there will be enough nurses in the future to care for the masses. One major grant programs is:

• Advanced Education Nursing: Provides grants to nursing schools and academic health centers to increase education and practice for nurses in master’s and post-master’s programs. These programs prepare nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, nurse midwives, nurse anesthetists, nurse educators, nurse administrators, and public health nurses. The legislation also eliminates the 10% cap on grants for doctoral education.

Increasing education is a great way to retain nurses.

Stay tuned for more information on these programs in future blogs.

Can I help you recruit and retain your nurses? Contact me.

Let them see what you do, the difference you make.

Sometimes it’s good to have them follow another of your staff member too. This is a great way to recruit nurses (plus they get a great appreciation for all you do and why you might be pooped after work!)

Can I help your hospital recruit nurses and retain nurses? Contact me.

When we consider that it costs a minimum of $62,000 to hire and train a new nurse, this is a great nurse retention idea.

I’ve got lots more tried and proven nurse retention ideas.

I’d love to  help you. Please contact me!

Scheduling changes, such as moving from eight-hour shifts to 12-hour shifts, meant that scheduling could be juggled to allow cutbacks without affecting nurses so dramatically.

Still, as I visit hospitals as an expert on nurse recruitment and retention, I hear that much more attention needs to be given to boosting nurse morale. This is the best nurse retention tool.

To learn how I can help with nurse recruitment and retention at your hospital, contact me.

The Labor Secretary revealed plans to stimulate the economy with the bill’s funds while touring the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas and the Shawnee County Community Health Care Clinic in Topeka. These Kansas clinics and medical centers are among the areas that need the most help, as recruitment and retention of nurses and other workers is most difficult in rural areas.

With baby boomers aging and needing further medical care, the need for nurses and health care workers will only increase. The Labor Department aims to take advantage of this medical necessity by providing workers with a chance to start over in a field that is both lucrative and necessary.

I’m eager to see when these funds are released and to whom. I have found no applications process for this. If you learn more, please post a comment and share.

To learn more recruitment ideas, see www.NurseRecruitmentandRetention.com

NASN
is the leader in advocacy for student health and professional
development of school nurses. Every child deserves a school nurse. Yet the caseload assignments for school nurses vary greatly throughout
the United States. Historically, the federal government and the
National Association of School Nurses have recommended a school
nurse-to-student ratio of 1:750

Now that’s a big assignment.

Consider joining their ranks and caring for kids.

To learn more about this and other events, contact me at www.NurseRecruitmentandRetention.com.

Despite the recession, most hospital executives believe there are still too few physicians and nurses in the United States, and the shortages will grow worse if access to healthcare becomes universal.

In a survey of 285 hospital chief executive officers conducted by AMN Healthcare, the nation’s largest health care staffing company, 95 percent of hospital CEOs said there is a shortage of physicians in the U.S., 91 percent said there is a shortage of nurses. While the short-term economic challenges may have affected their recruitment and retention efforts, the long-term problem will be the need for thousands of more healthcare professionals that don’t exist today.

Over 24 percent of CEOs said the economic downturn caused them to decrease nurse recruiting efforts over the last six months. The majority, at least 64 percent, said recruiting efforts at their hospitals over the last six months had not changed.

In the next six months, 89 percent expect to maintain or increase nurse recruiting efforts.

As a nurse motivational speaker and expert in nurse recruitment and retention, I can help now. Please contact me to see how I can help you recruit the nurses you need, and retain the best you have. www.NurseRecruitmentandRetention.com

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF) New Careers in Nursing provides scholarships to under-represented minorities to attend nursing schools. To date, the program has awarded 700-plus scholarships!

All of us know someone who would love to be a nurse. Invite them. Ask them to join. Tell them about this and other scholarships.

As an expert in nurse recruitment and retention, I’ve got lots of tips on how you can help end the shortage by recruiting more people into the profession. Please contact me soon.

When I speak at nurse recruitment and retention events, I’ve often stated that we are expected to be ½ million nurses short within the next ten years. But the news is worse than I thought. According to the 2004 Health Resources and Services Administration’s National Sample Survey on the registered nurse population, the nursing shortage is expected to hit 1 million by 2020.

The next four-year survey will be released in the first quarter of 2010, but many are not waiting to see if the number has risen. Various organizations have been working hard to reverse the trend.

States and hospitals are providing money to send their licensed practical nurses to become registered nurses. Payers, local foundations and companies whose missions are aligned with healthcare access are also making investments to recruit nurses as nursing students.

How can you engage your community and hospital for help end the shortage? I have lots of proven strategies. Contact me.

Unemployment in the U.S. is near 10%, one the highest rates in years. Nevertheless, we’ve got a severe shortage of workers in one of most well-known and necessary careers in the world. The field is nursing. And, the need for nurses – whether Registered Nurses (RNs) with an associates degree or those with bachelors and master’s degrees is huge. According to a

There is hope, however. According to the Bureau of Labor, says growth in this field between 2006 and 2016 will be 23%, much faster than the average for all occupations.

We nurses can speed that growth, with my Each One Reach One Nurse initiative. Contact me so I can help you recruit the nurses you need. Together we can end the shortage.