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The U.S. health care industry has received well-deserved
criticism from the international nursing community for
its aggressive tactics in foreign nurse recruitment.
Given the resources of this country, it is difficult
to justify raiding other countries of their nurses instead
of investing in our own nursing educational system.
The nursing shortage has made foreign nursing recruitment
a lucrative business, attractive to international recruitment
firms, immigration lawyers and others. Unfortunately,
some hospitals are seduced by the promise of a quick
fix vs. investing in the development of their local
nursing pipeline. Ironically, today's average recruitment
time for a foreign nurse is almost equal to the duration
of an associate degree program.
As a history lesson (lest we repeat the mistakes of
the past), the severity of the nursing shortage in California
can be attributed to one important factor: the long-standing
neglect of our own nursing educational pipeline, disguised
by a historical overreliance on nurses educated in other
states and other countries.
The California Board of Registered Nursing confirms
that half the nurses in California today were educated
somewhere else. Given the almost 5,000 new graduates
that take NCLEX per year in California, we could double
our annual output of new nurses and still not meet the
needs of our health care delivery system. Compared to
other states, our educational systems simply are not
doing enough to educate nurses for our health care system.
Many hospitals in California, however, have taken a
different path to find nurses. These hospitals understand
the complex issues of workforce development and are
taking steps to ensure that they have strong, well-educated
nursing resources for the future.
These efforts include subsidizing faculty salaries
for expanded nursing enrollment, providing hospital
staff as clinical faculty, supporting learning labs,
and providing work-study programs and student scholarships
to increase student retention. Many hospitals are enlarging
their student volunteer programs, implementing job-shadowing
programs and reaching out to local schools to promote
health careers.
What is your hospital/employer doing to support and
build the local nursing pipeline? If you ask, you may
be surprised to learn of many positive efforts and significant
resources being invested in nursing. If your employer
has not stepped forward yet, encourage him or her to
do so. Contact your local nursing programs and ask them
what they need. Ask your local chamber of commerce,
employers, clubs, organizations and agencies to be involved
in creating solutions for the nursing shortage.
Although our nation's health care delivery system is
in the grips of a severe nursing shortage, it is the
local community efforts that are proving fruitful. Given
the alternatives, investing in the local education pipeline
is easier and more beneficial in the long run than foreign
nurse recruitment.
We'd like to know what your hospital/employer is doing
to develop the nursing workforce and develop local nursing
programs. Send your comments to carolb@nurseweek.com.
Discuss this and other topics with your colleagues
at www.nurseweek.com/rnvillage.
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