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In 2005, even though millions of people tried to prepare for Hurricane Katrina, we all watched the crippling of a region due to a lack of emergency and health system preparedness. Today, the urgency for Americans to prepare for the next disaster has never been greater. Across this state, local leaders and residents are planning for possible health crises, from pandemic flu to an act of terrorism. However, there is one issue that will make the response to emergencies even more difficult. It is the shortage of experienced nurses.

We all count on nurses for the quality personal care they provide when we are sick or injured. This care is currently threatened by the ever increasing shortage of trained and experienced registered nurses.

A recent report by the Trust for America's Health indicates that 40 states face both a current and future shortage of nurses. Mississippi is one of those 40 states. In October 2006, the Mississippi Office of Nursing Workforce conducted its ninth annual survey of hospitals. The hospital registered nurse vacancy rate increased to 9.1 percent in 2006 from 7.9 percent in 2005. The nursing shortage makes it difficult for our healthcare sector to meet current needs. In any kind of emergency, the presence of registered nurses will be key to the ability to provide care for an influx of additional patients, many disabled, seriously ill or injured.

Although Mississippi is not alone in struggling with this problem, the Mississippi Hospital Association Health, Research, and Educational Foundation (MHA Foundation) through the Mississippi Office of Nursing Workforce (ONW) is taking the first step towards finding a solution. A unique partnership has been formed to develop solutions to establish a stable, adequate nursing workforce to prepare for whatever issues we face. This partnership is part of a national program known as Partners Investing in Nursing's Future, led by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Northwest Health Foundation, to encourage local foundations to act as catalysts in developing grassroots strategies to address the nursing shortage.

The MHA Foundation, ONW, and the Mississippi Nurses Association have come together to address one of the root problems contributing to the nursing shortage — the nursing faculty shortage. Mississippi's schools of nursing report an anticipated 35.5 percent faculty vacancy rate by the end of the 2008-'09' school year, according to the Southern Regional Education Board Council on Collegiate Education for Nursing survey of schools of nursing.

The Mississippi Critical Nursing Faculty Shortage Initiative is a multidimensional approach to increase and retain nursing faculty that more accurately reflect the ethnicity and gender of our population by implementing the following objectives: 1) develop an innovative, accelerated educational path to a nursing faculty career; 2) develop an evidence-based image and recruitment campaign to showcase nursing education as a desirable career; 3) develop multiple adjunct faculty roles with formal relationships between education and service; and 4) improve education and clinical workplace cultures.

One of the goals of the initiative is to develop a pilot project between service and education to be used as a model across the state. Hospitals and schools of nursing in the Jackson, Mississippi area are developing a pilot project. This will allow service and education to partner and develop adjunct faculty roles. The project will be implemented in the fall of 2007 and then be used in other regions across the state.

Although we've only just taken the first steps, the project shows great promise in strengthening the nursing workforce here in Mississippi. Initial research already shows the nursing community is eager to embrace these new initiatives. Hospital nurse executives are interested in providing adjunct faculty, classroom space, and financial support. Also, most nurses are interested in obtaining an advanced degree which would allow them to teach.

The MHA Foundation is committed to working with our community to address the health issues that face Mississippi, including steps to ensure that we have a prepared nursing workforce.

Nurses are a cornerstone of our healthcare system and need to be skilled, appreciated, and empowered to enjoy long-term careers. Efforts like this are necessary to ensure that an abundant nursing workforce is in place when we need it. Without trained and experienced registered nurses, we could face the effects of a Katrina-like disaster again in Mississippi. This is not someone else's problem to fix. Here's what you can do to help: As a member of the community, you can be an advocate for encouraging our legislatures to appropriate funds for faculty salaries as well as innovative paths to nursing education.


May 2007

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