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By Safiya George, PhD APRN-BC, FAANP

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated in stark terms that skilled, compassionate nurses are critical to our health and wellbeing. Yet, current data indicate we are not moving in the right direction to prepare and retain nurses to address health emergencies and treat a growing population of older adults. The Florida Hospital Association (FHA) projects that Florida will face a shortage of more than 59,000 nurses by 2035. The latest Physician and Nursing Workforce study sponsored by FHA and the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida (December, 2021) shows that we need approximately 2,300 additional Registered Nurse (RN) FTEs and an additional 1,700 Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) FTEs entering the workforce each year in Florida. Among the reasons for this current state of affairs, burnout, stress, retirement, job dissatisfaction, and a shortage of nursing faculty.

A joint study conducted in 2021 by the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing at Florida Atlantic University and Cross Country Healthcare, Inc. found that nearly 37% of nurses nationwide reported being burnt out, stressed or overworked. Moreover, 29% of nurses said that their desire to leave the profession was dramatically higher in 2021 versus pre-pandemic, citing the nursing shortage and inadequate staffing levels as top contributors to the low satisfaction. A significant percentage of respondents agreed that pay increases and other incentives would attract and retain nurses, telehealth should be a cornerstone of care delivery and improvements in cross-training nurses are key to adapt to crisis events.

The good news is several entities have come together to address areas where nurses can have a greater impact on health care delivery. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030 report, commissioned by the National Academy of Medicine (National Academies Press, 2021), calls for the entire nursing industry, including healthcare institutions, organizations, government agencies and nursing programs to support the vital role of nurses in helping to achieve health equity. The previous report called for an increase in the number of baccalaureate prepared nurses to 80% of all nurses and to double the number of nurses with doctoral degrees, however, the current nursing workforce includes only 64% of registered nurses with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree or graduate degree and less than 1% of all nurses in the U.S. hold a doctorate degree in nursing (PhD or DNP).

The Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing is doing its part to train and prepare nurses by offering accredited programs at all levels, including a variety of tracks for students to achieve a BSN, Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), PhD and DNP focused on Caring Science. Additionally, we offer both a post-graduate Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner certificate program and a BSN-DNP program with a concentration in Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner option, a post-graduate Dermatology Certificate and a telehealth certificate course that intersect innovation and technology to address healthcare provider shortages.

In response to the Future of Nursing 2020-2030 report, we recently launched a Health Equity Nursing Scholars Program, in collaboration with Florida Blue and the DeLuca Foundation, which provides ten undergraduate BSN student scholars with monthly seminars focused on topics such as health equity, social determinants of health, the Culture of Health Framework and healthcare quality improvement. It also allows them to complete a portion of their clinical rotations in primary care settings such as our college’s nurse-led Federally-Qualified Health Center Look-a-Like in West Palm Beach operated in partnership with the Northwest Community Health Alliance.

The pandemic has shone a light on the complex issues that have existed within our health care system and educational institutions for years, and at the same time, has propelled us to build a stronger nursing workforce pipeline to meet the growing demand for health care professionals.

Dr. Safiya George is Dean and Professor, Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, Florida Atlantic University. For more information, visit www.nursing.fau.edu or call (561) 297- 6261.