The future of nursing is as unpredictable as ever, with one California hospital eliminating skilled nursing positions, while a shortage of nurse educators leaves Missouri working to recruit more teachers into the profession.
California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) in San Francisco will do away with skilled nursing beds through a series of upgrades to the facility, even though city hospitals predict an increase in patients needing skilled nurse care, The Examiner reported. Skilled nursing bed usage will likely be at 115 percent capacity next year, while CPMC plans to remove several dozen nursing beds, resulting in anywhere from four to 19 nurses losing their jobs, according to the article. The Department of Public Health reported that San Francisco is projected to be 702 beds short of its skilled nursing facility need by 2050.
Meanwhile, almost 80,000 qualified nursing candidates were turned away from baccalaureate and graduate programs last year due to lack of faculty at nursing schools. As a result, Missouri Western State University is seeking more nurse educators, according to the St. Joseph News-Press.
Missouri Western will offer new nurse educator graduate classes in the fall, allowing a nurse educator option or a nurse educator graduate certificate along with a master of science in nursing in healthcare leadership, according to the article.
With many rural healthcare facilities in desperate need of nurses and doctors, the university hopes to educate the next generation or nurse educators and leaders who will stay in the area to practice and work, according to the piece.
To learn more:
- here's The Examiner article
- check out the Department of Public Health data (.pdf)
- read the opinion piece