KU Faculty of Nursing releases findings from statewide stakeholder assembly on nursing disaster

At this time, the College of Kansas Faculty of Nursing launched a report detailing findings from a March 21 assembly in Topeka that introduced collectively quite a few stakeholders from throughout Kansas to launch a statewide dialog on the nursing scarcity and associated crises.

In response to displays on the assembly and summarized within the report, the nursing disaster is each deep and extensive.

“We’re troubled by information displaying excessive ranges of vacancies, elevated separations and projections for progress in all areas of nursing—licensed nurse aides, licensed sensible nurses, registered nurses and superior apply nurses,” mentioned Amy L. Garcia, DNP, FAAN, scientific affiliate professor at KU Faculty of Nursing. “These shortages exist throughout the state, however they’re most crucial in rural and under-resourced areas. A scarcity of nurses signifies that hospital beds and companies have to be lowered, placing critical-access hospitals at even greater danger of closing.”

These had been the problems that introduced stakeholders to the assembly in Topeka, which is projected to be the primary of many.

“That assembly and dialogue had been an ideal begin to constructing a coalition to deliver systemic change,” mentioned Sally L. Maliski, Ph.D., FAAN, dean of KU Faculty of Nursing. “The aim of the assembly was to start out a collaborative dialogue to resolve nursing workforce points in Kansas, together with strengthening the nursing pipeline, retaining skilled nurses, creating nurse leaders and information assortment and sharing. The group additionally strived to determine future actions and extra leaders who want to hitch us on the desk.”

A number of themes emerged from that assembly, together with the necessity to:

• Accumulate good, particular and actionable information that’s simple to entry
• Undertaking a optimistic nursing picture to the general public in addition to to potential college students as early as center and highschool
• Enhance the nursing pipeline, development and retention
• Collaborate and share assets amongst stakeholders
• Create sturdy relationships to shoulder this work
• Convene the stakeholders frequently to work collectively to resolve nursing workforce issues and rejoice the nursing workforce
• Have a good time the contribution of nurses

The necessity for information was a distinguished speaking level within the small group discussions in March.

“Stakeholders are asking for higher, real-time, resolution assist for well being care administration, planning and coverage,” Garcia mentioned. “We envision bringing collectively information from authorities, associations, colleges, well being care and different employers to generate new options to advanced issues. For instance, as we speak we will estimate what number of nurses are licensed in every county. We do not know what their talent units are, what number of are working or their plans. That sort of data can be invaluable to varsities, employers and our elected officers.”

The group additionally mentioned what success would seem like if a nursing management and workforce middle had been established in Kansas. Key factors to that dialogue included:

• Making a one-stop store for nursing workforce data
• Rising nursing scholar and school purposes
• Trying to different states for nursing workforce middle finest practices

Subsequent steps

It’s anticipated that future stakeholder conferences will probably be held in southeast Kansas, central Kansas and western Kansas to construct on these conversations and findings.

“Whereas we all know that nursing workforce shortages and requires management improvement are prevalent throughout the state, we additionally know that the specifics of these challenges and the options for addressing them look completely different relying on the place you might be,” mentioned Heather Nelson-Brantley, Ph.D., assistant professor of nursing at KU. “It’s vital that we interact stakeholders throughout the state, that everybody has a voice and place on the desk for creating options. That is an effort by Kansans for Kansans.”