Study Identifies Critical Issues in Nurse Recruitment, Retention and Diversity in New York City

NEW YORK CITY, Nov. 3, 2006 ??? Reversing the growing nursing shortage now threatening health care in New York City will require coordinated, broad-based efforts to recruit and retain qualified nurses and expand partnerships between schools of nursing and practice settings. Among the most pressing concerns facing New York is the lack of ethnic and racial diversity among its nursing workforce, which hinders culturally and linguistically appropriate care in a city with one of the most diverse populations in the U.S.

These are among the major findings of a study released today at ???Who Will Care for Me???? the inaugural meeting of several hundred leaders representing health care, philanthropy, government and business seeking to tackle the nursing shortage, co-sponsored by the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence and the New York Academy of Medicine (the Academy), which conducted the study in conjunction with a project for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Read the full report

Among the fundamental changes called for in the study to improve retention include transforming the mindset about nursing to a profession-based approach, attention to career advancement and mobility opportunities and tangible benefit packages. A key issue is the need to improve practice environments and respond to the varying needs among younger and older, experienced nurses; the latter may not be able or interested in working 12-hour shifts, which may be a major contributor to their exit from the traditional nursing workplace. Further, the study found an urgent need to increase representation of minority and immigrant nurses in leadership, advanced practice and faculty roles, while also initiating mechanisms to investigate and respond to concerns about racism and discrimination. In recognition of the growing trend to recruit from abroad, the study also called for implementing principles of ethical standards in seeking to attract nurses from other countries.

With some exceptions, most recent efforts to improve recruiting and retention have been fragmented, said Dr. David M. Keepnews, Associate Professor, Adelphi University School of Nursing and Editor-in-Chief, Policy, Politics and Nursing Practice, who directed the project for the Academy. ???This is a watershed moment for the nursing crisis in New York City. We must take dramatic steps toward a more integrated and strategic model that will reenergize the field of nursing, from policy to practice to academics,??? he said.

New York City Leads Nation in Nursing Crisis
The shortage of nurses is a global health crisis of staggering proportions; however, the crisis has yet to engage sufficient attention from the private and public sectors, even within New York City, where the situation is especially acute. Hospitals in the city have the lowest nurse-to-patient ratio (1.08:1) among the nation???s leading cities (as high as 1.4 or 1.75:1), based on average daily census of patients. According to the Academy???s study, the lack of diversity is of particular concern in the Hispanic community, which accounts for nearly 30 percent of the city???s population but just four percent of its nursing workforce. Current projections indicate that 20 percent of the city???s residents will be over age 65 in the year 2020, just as New York City will face a 25 percent nursing shortage. Further, a dearth of nursing faculty confounds the capacity to educate new nurses.

???We can no longer afford to ignore the immediate and far-reaching impact of the nursing crisis in New York City ??? or beyond,??? said Dr. Marilyn A. DeLuca, Executive Director of the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence. ???At the Jonas Center we???re doing something about it and working to effect permanent change by funding programs that get to precisely the issues cited in the Academy???s study and by involving everyone who has ownership of the crisis. But we need more parties to get involved.???

The Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence was specifically created to advance professional nursing by serving as a grant maker, a convener and a thought leader on issues and programs that improve nurse recruitment and retention, increase ethnic and racial diversity among the nursing workforce and advance and improve innovative practice settings in New York City.

Groundbreaking Gathering Engages Multiple Perspectives on Nursing Crisis
???Who Will Care for Me? ??? represents an important step forward toward galvanizing the strength of varied sectors that, together, can advance the state of nursing in New York City.

Three panel discussions, moderated by William F. Baker, PhD, CEO Thirteen/WNET and WLIW21 New York; Louis W. Sullivan, MD, President Emeritus, Morehouse School of Medicine and Chair, Sullivan Alliance to Transform America's Health Professions; and Brenda Cleary, PhD, RN, FAAN, Executive Director, North Carolina Center for Nursing, will discuss causes of the nursing shortage, strategies to reverse the trend and the role corporations, foundations and government can play in helping to bring about change. Initiatives in need of funding will also be discussed.

Keynote speaker Diana Mason, RN, PhD, FAAN, Editor-in-Chief, American Journal of Nursing, will present a vision of a world without nurses, describing the future if patient safety and quality of care continue to be sacrificed.

Additional recommendations coming from the study will also be covered in the panel discussions, including:

??? Target improvements in practice environment and work-life that emphasize respect, allow for professional development and acknowledge contributions to patient care.

??? Improve data sources and collection to ensure reliable nursing workforce data and trend information ??? particularly at county and city levels.

??? Expand partnerships between practice and academic settings to allow for a seamless transition for new nurses, increased educational opportunities for experienced nurses and an ongoing source of clinical faculty.

??? Broadly replicate successful efforts by nursing schools to increase retention of minority students.

Panel Presenters
Panel I, ???The Nursing Crisis is Here,??? includes presenters Christine Tassone Kovner, Professor, College of Nursing, NYU, Lori Melichar, Economist & Program Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Thomas Smith, Senior Vice President, Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer, Cambridge Health Alliance, Cambridge Massachusetts and James R. Tallon, Jr., President, United Hospital Fund.

Panel II, ???Initial Steps to Reverse the Trend,??? features presenters C. Alicia Georges, Associate Professor & Chair, Department of Nursing, Lehman College, CUNY, John Iglehart, Founding Editor, Health Affairs, Margaret McClure, Professor, NYU College of Nursing and Marybeth Sharpe, Senior Program Officer, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Panel III, ???Building Partnerships for Success,??? includes presenters James R. Knickman, President and CEO, New York State Health Foundation, Naomi B. Levine, Special advisor to the President, New York University and Chair and Executive Director NYU, George H. Heyman Jr. Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising, Phyllis Meadows, Director & Public Health Officer, City of Detroit, Department of Health & Wellness Promotion and Connie Vance, Professor, The College of New Rochelle School of Nursing.

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About the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence (www.jonascenter.org) Founded in February of 2006, the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence is supported by the Barbara and Donald Jonas Family Fund. Its mission is to advance professional nursing through grant making and programs that improve nurse recruitment and retention, increase ethnic and racial diversity among the nursing workforce and advance and improve innovative practice settings in New York City.

About The New York Academy of Medicine (www.nyam.org) Founded in 1847, The New York Academy of Medicine is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit institution whose mission is to enhance the health of people living in cities worldwide through research, education, advocacy, and prevention.

Posted on November 3, 2006

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