health centers to address nursing shortage
The Yale School of Nursing (YSN) is working at the local level to help lessen the effects of the national nursing shortage by partnering with the Hospital of St. Raphael (HSR) and the Hill Health Center (HHC) in the development of two new programs.
These programs will meet the need for additional staff in two different clinical settings: a hospital and a clinic.
The RN Clinical Scholars Program, initiated one year ago, was designed in partnership with HSR to provide the hospital with additional registered nurse staff. The Graduate Entry Pre-specialty in Nursing (GEPN) Clinical Scholars Program, designed in partnership with HHC, will begin in the fall of this year and will provide staff to the clinic. Both programs will offer financial aid to YSN students to help defray the cost of their education.
"The RN Clinical Scholars Program allows Saint Raphael's to support the educational development of registered nurses while providing our patients with the clinical expertise of the Yale School of Nursing students," says Mary Kuncas, vice president of patient services at HSR. "These nurses have made significant contributions to patient care as members of our professional nursing staff. We are looking forward to the second year of our relationship with the Clinical Scholars Program."
Beginning in the fall, the GEPN Scholars Program will infuse a small group of GEPN students into the workforce of HHC. These students will be employed as salaried staff in various capacities, and will provide support to HHC clinical staff. Once the GEPN students receive the Certificate of Nursing at the end of the first semester of their second year in the program, HHC will provide them with a fellowship in the amount of $3,000 per year of service, in addition to their salary.
"The nursing shortage significantly impacts all health care providers, including HHC," says Gary Spinner, chief operating officer of the New Haven clinic. "With fewer nurses to recruit into the organization, fewer possible candidates are available to fill the open positions. As the vacancy rate increases, those nurses left in understaffed settings often work additional hours to compensate for staff vacancies.
"We anticipate that YSN clinical scholars will be employed at HHC for the three years of their educational program, helping us to achieve a reduction in nursing vacancies and to provide continuity of care for our patients," he continues. "It is also our hope that once the nurses have completed their advanced training at Yale, they will have been exposed to working with the population of urban poor whom it is our mission to serve. We also look forward to the possibility that a number of YSN clinical scholars will consider future careers working with our patients here at Hill Health Center, or in other similar communities."
Paula Milone-Nuzzo, associate dean of academic affairs at YSN, says the new programs benefit participating students while also furthering YSN's mission.
"These innovative collaborations allow nurses who previously could not afford graduate tuition to attend YSN to become nurse practitioners, nurse midwives or clinical nurse specialists," she says. "YSN has always defined its mission as 'better health for all people.' By helping HSR and HHC fill staff vacancies, YSN is helping them to ensure the continuation of quality care for their patients."
The nursing shortage is projected to last until 2008. In a statement issued at the start of National Nursing Week 2002, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thomson spoke of the need to reduce the shortage. "Despite their central role in the delivery of health care, the number of nurses in the workforce is not keeping up with demand," he said. "One day each of us, or a member of our family, will rely on the care nurses provide. We must ensure that we have enough nurses to meet the need for their services."
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