Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/180153
insight on workforce TRaining By Linda D ums The future of nursing More nurses, and more with advanced degrees, needed to meet growing capacity A rea health care organizations and educational institutions are recognizing a need to increase training capacity for nurses in the region, expanding master's degree offerings to expand expertise. "People are sicker now than ever before," says Katie Hughes, undergraduate nursing program chairperson at the School of Nursing w w w. i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m c o u r t e s y o f Co n c o r d i a U n i v e r s i t y Dr. Teri Kaul (right), dean of the School of Nursing at Concordia University, gives instructions to a graduate nursing student (center) with a Concordia nurse practitioner. Kaul and other officials see a need for more nurses with advanced degrees to help meet a growing need for quality health care in the coming years. and Health Professions at Marian University. "But they're going into the hospital for shorter periods of time. There need to be quality, educated nurses at their bedside." Nurses also are needed to care for a growing baby boomer population, says Dr. Janet Reilly, associate professor and coordinator of the graduate program at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. "An increase in the need for health services in Wisconsin will correspond to the projected 9 percent growth of the population over age 65 by the year 2020," says Reilly, noting a 2000 U.S Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration workforce analysis. Colleges in Northeast Wisconsin are adding programs, many online, making them streamlined for nurses, who are often working full-time and on different shifts. Online courses also open the doors for out-of-state enrollment. A 2010 report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies painted a clear picture about the need for nurses with a higher education. "What the research has demonstrated is that if you are cared for by a nurse with a higher-level degree of education, you will have higher outcomes," says Dr. Teri Kaul, dean of the School of Nursing at Concordia University Wisconsin. Health care institutions also realize the need for nurses with higher education because a hospital's status "depends on the level of education of the people who work there," Kaul says. Concordia has offered a Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing program. But this January, it [continued] » O c t o b e r 2 013 • Insight | 41