Enrollment decreasing at Arizona's nursing schools

A statewide nursing shortage has prompted legislators to propose doubling the number of Arizona nursing school graduates to 2,000 over the next five years.

According to the American Hospital Association, Arizona has only 628 nurses per 100,000 people, compared to the U.S. average of 782 nurses per 100,000 people. All three Arizona universities have nursing programs.

For every eight nurses who retire, only three students complete nursing school, said Fran Roberts, vice president of professional services for the Healthcare Institute at the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association.

"The majority of nurses today are aged between 40 and 55," she said.

If House Bill 2466 passes, a coalition will be established among universities, community colleges, hospitals and healthcare organizations to develop a five-year caregiver and resource-expansion program to increase the number of nurses in Arizona.

"Nursing is hard work, and it's intense," said Republican Rep. Phil Hanson, who is sponsoring the bill. "They literally have lives in their hands."

Hanson said the bill would encourage more students in go into nursing.

Judith Berg, assistant professor of nursing, said the bill does not address how the state would deal with the increase in enrollment.

"Even though we support getting more nursing students, there are too many flaws in this particular bill in doing so," said Berg. "The nursing shortage problem is more multi-faceted than the bill addresses."

But she acknowledged that the bill would at least be a start in highlighting the nursing shortage.

Nursing enrollment has gone down at colleges nationwide.

In 2000-2001, The American Association of Colleges of Nursing found that nursing enrollment had declined for six consecutive years for baccalaureate programs and three consecutive years for master's programs.

While undergraduate nursing classes have remained full, Berg said enrollment is significantly down for nursing students earning a master's degree.

The number of graduate students enrolled in the nursing program declined each year between 1996 and 1999.

In 1999, only 130 students were enrolled - down from 147 the year before.

Berg said students are interested in pursuing the nursing profession, but the lack of funding for faculty is causing UA's nursing program to lag behind.

"The pay here is abysmal, so we can't compete for quality faculty," she said. "It makes it difficult to recruit from colleges who are paying much more."

Hanson said pay is not the only factor.

"In my experience, nurses really are not satisfied after coming from a four-year program. Those students want to go into nursing administration and management," he said. "Nursing students seem to be happier coming from community colleges, where they may practice bedside nursing after they graduate."

But lawmakers said it's crucial that the state lure students into university nursing programs to fill the gap in employment at Arizona hospitals.

"(The nursing shortage) is approaching a crisis," Hanson said. "If something isn't done, it will become a crisis."

The U.S. General Accounting Office studied the factors contributing to the nursing shortage. These factors include: aging workforce, decline in nursing program enrollment, decreasing levels of job satisfaction and increasing stress, low hiring and retention rates and more complex patients whose conditions demand a greater number of multi-skilled nurses.