In a continuing effort to tackle the national shortage of nurses, Baptist Health is launching a study to evaluate its Nursing Scholars program with Miami Dade College. The Health Foundation of South Florida has awarded Baptist Health a $36,000 grant to help pay for the first two years of the ongoing study, which will be conducted by Baptist Healths Center for Research and Inquiry.
“Nursing workforce issues are of special concern in Florida,” said Susan Golembeski, Ph.D., director of the Center. “Healthcare organizations are confronting both an aging population with increased healthcare demands and general population growth. At the same time, the number of R.N.s in Florida is dropping and their average age is 46.8 years.” In 2001, Baptist Health partnered with Miami Dade College to address the need for more nurses with an on-site Nursing Scholars program based at Baptist Hospital. The program provides tuition and a stipend for books for qualifying students. The scholars attend classes, do their clinical rotations and receive mentorship at Baptist Hospital. With the additional classroom space at Baptist Hospital and sharing of faculty, Miami Dade College has been able to admit an additional 80 nursing students each year. “This is clearly one positive outcome of the on-site program,” Dr. Golembeski said. “Still, because nursing schools in Florida are at capacity, thousands of qualified R.N. student applicants fail to be admitted each year.”
Baptist Health also has an off-site Nursing Scholars program, which pays tuition and a book stipend for nursing students who attend classes at Miami Dade Colleges Medical Center Campus. Graduates of both the on-site and off-site program must work one year at a Baptist Health hospital or facility.
For the study, Baptist Health will follow 160 graduates from both the on-site and off-site Nurse Scholars program. The nurses retention rate, sense of loyalty, academic performance and transition to the workplace will be evaluated and compared. “We hope to gather information that will help us improve and, perhaps, expand our Nursing Scholars program,” Dr. Golembeski said. Health Foundation of South Florida, a not-for-profit grant-making foundation, is dedicated to expanding access to affordable, quality healthcare and providing funding that directly benefits the health and well-being of underserved individuals in Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties. Since its inception in 1993, the Foundation has awarded more than $52 million in grants and direct program support.
