Nurses in demand
AMC’s nursing homes, New York state suffer nurse staff shortagesBy NATHAN BROWN, Enterprise Staff Writer
POSTED: May 7, 2008
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“At the hospital, it’s not so much a problem,” said AMC Communications Manager Joe Riccio. “We have very good staffing and a very good relationship with North Country Community College. We have nurses who have been on staff for five, 10, 15, 20, all the way up to 35 years. It really runs the gamut. We strive to be the employer of choice in the area, and I think that’s reflected in the length of tenure among all of our staff.”
The full staff of nurses at the hospitals could be part of AMC’s high score in a recent Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey. For overall patient satisfaction, AMC was rated at 95 percent, 8 percent higher than the state average and 6 percent higher than the national one. Ninety-six percent of patients said they were satisfied with their communication with nurses, as opposed to 92 percent statewide and 94 percent nationally. 93 percent of AMC’s patients found the hospital staff responsive; only 84 percent statewide and 87 percent nationally said the same.
However, Riccio said there are several vacant registered nurse positions at the two nursing homes, including two full-time supervisor positions. There are also 15 vacancies with the certified nursing assistants.
“It has been more acute recently,” he said. “We are actively recruiting to get those positions filled.”
Statewide, 8.8 percent of registered nurse positions were vacant in 2007, up almost 2.5 percent from 2006 and .3 percent higher than the national average, according to a press release from the Healthcare Association of New York State. The press release was put out just in time for National Nurses’ Week. National Nurses’ Week lasts from May 6 to 12 every year, because nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale’s birthday is May 12.
“A major factor behind the shortage is nursing schools’ inability to admit qualified applicants due to capacity limitations,” the press release says. “In fact, despite the ongoing shortage of nurses, New York’s nursing schools are forced to turn away nearly 4,000 applicants each year.”
“It’s at the educational level,” Riccio said. “There is more that can be done at the state level to provide funding to improve the educational infrastructure. A lot of applicants are turned away each year due to a lack of facilities, funding or resources. It’s not a lack of people with the desire to become nurses. It’s more a lack of resources to help them achieve that desire.”
Another factor aggravating the shortage is the increasing need for health care workers. According to HANYS’s press release, the state Department of Labor estimates the total number of health care jobs is expected to grow 18 percent by 2012, more than twice as fast as other occupations.
“The federal Bureau of Health Professions projects a shortage of New York nurses of nearly 37,000 by 2015,” the press release said.
Training
The demand for nurses is high, but that doesn’t mean it is an easy profession to get into. The training is rigorous.
“You have to be very committed, in terms of time and energy,” said Mike Shepherd, director of nursing at North Country Community College. “Family support systems are imperative with regard to a student’s ability to succeed.”
Students who pass the first year of training become licensed practical nurses. After that, they must reapply for admission into the registered nurse program. LPNs can do many of the things RNs can, but they need to be supervised by an RN or a physician.
“Enrollment is very objective,” Shepherd said. “The admission process in the RN class is traditionally based on the grade point average earned during the course of LPN education, primarily. It is a challenging curriculum. It does require students to be committed and disciplined with regard to entering a profession in which they obtain a license to practice from the state of New York.”
He said NCCC students train at several local medical facilities, including AMC, Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone, Champlain Valley Physicians’ Hospital in Plattsburgh and Glens Falls Hospital in Glens Falls.
“Clinicals are integrated with classroom activities and lectures,” Shepherd said. “Throughout the course of both years, they have anywhere from six to 10 lecture hours per week. They also incorporate eight to 12 clinical hours per week over the course of the two years.”
Between the Saranac Lake, Ticonderoga and Malone campuses, North Country Community College has 72 students in the LPN program and 28 in the RN program. Shepherd said more than 90 percent of the students are from Franklin and Essex counties.
“Most of the students are non-traditional, meaning they are not right out of high school,” Shepherd said. “Mid-30s is the average age. That certainly has been a trend that has been ongoing for at least eight years.”
Shepherd said that, typically, between 8 and 10 percent of the nursing students are male. Although the percentage has dipped this year, Shepherd said he expects 12 of the 40 students in next year’s RN class to be male — 30 percent.
NCCC is currently the only college in the Tri-Lakes area with a nursing program. Paul Smith’s College plans to begin to offer a four-year degree program in nursing, and the state has pledged $750,000 toward it in late 2006. However, the college has neither received nor requested that money yet.
“We’re still looking into it,” college spokesman Ken Aaron said Tuesday. “It’s something we’re interested in, but I can’t give you a time frame. We’ve got some other priorities on campus we’re trying to take care of first.”
One of these priorities, Aaron said, is to finish restoring the Countess Alicia Spaulding-Paolozzi Environmental Research and Education Center so it can house the college’s Adirondack Watershed Institute.
Contact Nathan Brown at 891-2600 ext. 26 or nbrown@adirondackdailyenterprise.com'>nbrown@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.
