|
| The number of scholarships for nursing students would be equal to 5 percent of the number of graduate nursing students in Alabama
|
| Wednesday
|
An Alabama legislator wants to pour more money into state-funded scholarships to recruit nursing teachers.
Rep. Robert Bentley, R-Tuscaloosa, has prefiled a bill that would boost annual graduate nursing program scholarships to $10,000. Bentley hopes increased financial incentives will expand nursing faculties at the state’s colleges. Priority for the scholarships would go to those seeking careers in nursing education and a two-year commitment to teach in Alabama is a prerequisite.
Current law caps state-sponsored scholarships at $3,800. Bentley hopes cash incentives will entice more trained nurses into graduate programs. The state annually turns away as many as 4,000 qualified nursing school applicants in Alabama because of class size limitations, Bentley said.
“We’re going to have to encourage – with financial means – students that will give back to the state of Alabama,” Bentley said.
Bentley’s bill has been filed but won’t receive its first read in the legislature until the body reconvenes on Feb. 3.
The number of scholarships would be equal to 5 percent of the number of graduate nursing students in Alabama. The Alabama Board of Nursing would award the scholarships and would determine how much to offer each student with a maximum of $10,000, according to Bentley’s bill.
Boosting faculty rolls is paramount to eliminating nursing shortages, Alabama State Nurses Association Executive Director Joe Decker said. He said Bentley’s bill goes to the crux of the state’s nursing shortage.
Financial assistance for those seeking to become nursing teachers is critical, Decker said, because most nursing faculty members leave clinical settings to teach. They often take a pay cut – sometimes in the $30,000 range – when leaving a hospital for a classroom, he said.
A $10,000 scholarship can help absorb the financial strain of someone who needs to cut or eliminate their hours working to enter a graduate program, Decker said. Only by adding teachers can Alabama’s nursing school open more classrooms and clinical training opportunities. State law mandates a 10-to-1 student-teacher ratio for clinical training, he said.
“We tried to bite that off as the first starting point,” Decker said of the bill. “There is no shortage of fully qualified candidates who apply for nursing programs. The pipeline needs to get bigger. We need to be able to produce nurses and we need more faculty to do it.”
The current law, passed in 1978, limited statewide scholarship appropriations to $57,000 a year. Legislators approved $500,000 in additional scholarship money for fiscal year 2008 and $200,000 for fiscal year 2009 that began Oct. 1.
Trinity Medical Center Chief Nursing Officer Andy Romine said the current national nursing shortage is expected to broaden as the aging baby boomer generation demands more medical care. He said labor statistics show the nation will have 1 million vacant registered nursing positions by 2010.
Romine said Trinity welcomes Bentley’s effort. Trinity is not immune to the nursing shortage that has been exacerbated by a shrinking and aging pool of nursing teachers.
“We’re incredibly supportive of that legislation,” Romine said. “It taps into one of the greatest concerns we have moving forward. We put forth a lot of effort in recruitment to try to get the best qualified candidates. It’s a small pool to pick from and we want the best.”
Looming budget cuts could hamper attempts to funnel more funds to nursing scholarships, Decker said. He said scholarship funds are contingent on availability. The proposed law would be flexible enough to cope when state revenue streams tighten.
“It is dependent on its availability,” Decker said. “If it’s available, we have a real chance to fight the nursing faculty shortage.”
Decker said the state needs “more young people” in the nursing education pipeline because the average age among nursing faculty members is 55. Danne Howard, vice president of government relations with the Alabama Hospital Association, said her organization supports efforts that will increase the state’s nursing pool.
Howard said provisions that tie scholarships to future employment in the state will help combat efforts of neighboring states like Georgia that provide incentives to lure nurses inside their borders.
“We’re trying to find ways to help keep those trained in this state practicing in our state,” Howard said.
To be eligible for the proposed scholarships, applicants must be an Alabama resident for at least a year, be a licensed nurse in Alabama and accepted in an Alabama graduate nursing program. The scholarships would be available to students seeking master’s or doctorate degrees in nursing.source
Important skills, knowledge, and abilities for LVNs
How to become a Licensed Vocational Nurse
Licensed Vocational Nurse working conditions
What is the typical salary for a Licensed Vocational Nurse ? |
posted by blogger @ 16:41
  |
|
|
|
|
|
