caregiver and resource
expansion program
HB 2466 establishes a coalition between universities, private educational institutions, hospitals and healthcare organizations to develop a five-year caregiver and resource expansion program to increase the number of nurses in Arizona.
According to a recent survey by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the number of students entering the nursing profession has a rapidly decreased since the mid-nineties. HHS found that while the population of the U.S. increased by nearly 14 percent between 1990-2000, the rate of nurses entering the workforce between 1996-2000 was 4.1 percent, down from more than 14 percent between 1992-1996.
The U.S. General Accounting Office studied the factors contributing to the nursing shortage. These factors include:
- Aging workforce
- Decline in nursing program enrollment
- Expansion of care delivery settings, i.e. home health care and community based care
- Decreasing levels of job satisfaction and increasing stress and stress-related illnesses
- Low hiring and retention rates
- More complex patients that demand a greater number of multi-skilled nurses
- Increasing patient populations, i.e. baby boomers
In 2000-2001, The American Association of Colleges of Nursing reported that nursing enrollment had declined for six consecutive years for baccalaureate programs and three consecutive years for master’s enrollments. The Association estimates that 40 percent of the nation’s nurses will reach retirement age in the next ten to fifteen years. The American Hospital Association reports that nursing vacancies account for 75 percent of all hospital vacancies or 126,000 positions.
According to the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association (AzHHA), the number of students graduating from Arizona’s nursing schools has remained steady at approximately 1,000 graduates per year for the past decade. AzHHA reports that the average age of a registered nurse in Arizona is 47 years. Arizona has 628 nurses per 100,000 people compared the U.S. average of 782 nurses per 100,000 people.
HB 2466 establishes a coalition between the schools and health providers to double the enrollment of nursing students graduating in Arizona from 1,000 to 2,000 over the next five years.