Tennessee's Nursing Shortage to be Addressed by Statewide Agencies Through Nationwide Program

Thursday August 09, 2007
Tennessee expected to have the highest nursing shortage in the Southeast

Contact: Terry Holley, ETF Senior VP for Programs and Regional Development 

Knoxville, Tenn. - East Tennessee Foundation (ETF), along with The Tennessee Center for Nursing and other statewide partners, has recently been selected as one of 11 foundations nationwide to receive funding in the second year of Partners Investing in Nursing's Future (PIN), a national initiative to develop solutions to America's nursing shortage.

The U.S. Government projects a shortfall of 800,000 nurses by the year 2020. Tennessee will be able to meet only half of the demand for RNs by 2020, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration. Because of this crisis, this program aims to increase the number of qualified nurse educators, help retain nurses by creating a positive work environment and give nursing students more educational opportunities in clinical settings.

Led by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Northwest Health Foundation, the program encourages local foundations to act as catalysts in developing grassroots strategies to establish a stable, adequate nursing workforce. The 11 grants being awarded nationally this year represent the involvement of 27 foundations, and a multitude of other funding sources. These foundations, some for the first time, have forged partnerships in their own communities to apply for this grant, giving increased attention to the nursing shortage in their communities. To help develop solutions and lead efforts within the region, ETF and its consortium of partners have been awarded a two-year grant of $250,000. The total budget with matching funds from partners is $417,536.

Grant funds, including matching funds, have been awarded from ETF and its consortium partners to the Tennessee Center for Nursing, a statewide nonprofit 501(C) (3). The Tennessee Center for Nursing (TCN) is an independent nursing workforce center whose mission is to guide the ongoing development of an appropriate nursing work force, to conduct nursing work force analyses, to propose recommendations for nursing education and practice reform, to disseminate findings and recommendations, and to develop an ongoing system to address nursing workforce needs to meet the current and future healthcare needs of all Tennesseans. No competitive grants will be awarded from these funds.

In brief, grant funds will be used to expand educational opportunities:
1. Implementing online clinical placement and student clinical orientation programs
2. Creating a "Teaching Institute" to enhance the technological skills of existing faculty and "extend the reach" of their clinical training capacity by targeting existing faculty to complete the development of and deliver a series of online courses that enhance faculty capability to augment student learning, and
3. Recruiting and training BSN prepared expert clinical nurses to become qualified faculty "extenders" to serve as mentors or clinical preceptors under the supervision of a qualified Master's or PhD prepared faculty of record.

"I can think of no better way to make communities stronger and lives better than to support this innovative program that improves the health of Tennesseeans," said Michael T. McClamroch, president and chief executive officer of East Tennessee Foundation. "The Foundation is honored to be working in partnership with so many qualified organizations in this initiative that will work to find solutions to Tennessee's nursing shortage."

Partners Investing in Nursing's Future is now in its second year of a five-year, $10 million initiative, which led to the formation of hundreds of partnerships between nursing organizations and local foundations in its first year.

"The stability and quality of our nation's health care rely heavily on a sufficient supply of appropriately educated and skilled nurses," said Susan B. Hassmiller, R.N., Ph.D., F.A.A.N., senior program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "While the nursing shortage is a national issue, community-based interventions are necessary to finding solutions that work in different health care environments."

Across America, patients rely on nurses for personal, quality care delivered in their own communities - which is threatened when there is a nursing shortage. In fact, the nursing shortage has become so severe in some communities that it is affecting patient care and safety, health care costs and patient outcomes. Experts say the
causes of the nursing shortage are complex and range from rapid population growth in several states, to an aging nurse workforce to poor working conditions.

"Because all health care is local, solutions need to be tailored to meet the needs of the individual communities these nurses serve," said Judith Woodruff, J.D., program director of the Northwest Health Foundation and Partners Investing in Nursing's Future. "Not only do we believe East Tennessee Foundation and its partners will make significant improvements in the state but we believe that the other 20 PIN projects can exchange ideas and benefit from their work as well."

Information about Partners Investing in Nursing's Future is available at www.PartnersInNursing.org.

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About East Tennessee Foundation
East Tennessee Foundation oversees more than 350 charitable funds and manages endowment, unrestricted, and scholarshipl funds totaling $140 million.

About The Tennessee Center for Nursing
The Tennessee Center for Nursing, Inc. (TCN), is a statewide nonprofit organization composed of nursing educators, providers, insurers, business representatives, policy makers, consumers, and representatives of professional nursing organizations to guide the ongoing development of an appropriate nursing work force.

PIN Funding Partners
Other funding partners helping to make possible the goals of Partners Investing in Nursing's Future are Baptist Healing Trust, The Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, East Tennessee Foundation, HCA, HCA Foundation, Memorial Foundation, Nashville Career Advancement Center, the Tennessee Center for Nursing, Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Tennessee Nurses Foundation, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. For more than 30 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. See http://www.rwjf.org/.

Northwest Health Foundation is an independent, charitable foundation committed to advancing, supporting, and promoting the health of the people of Oregon and southwest Washington. We focus on issues of health and health care in our region, seeking concrete solutions to today's health problems while advocating to prevent tomorrow's. As part of our commitment to cultivate a stable, skilled nursing workforce in the region, Northwest Health Foundation invests in collaborative and sustainable solutions to address the nursing shortage, including the development of advocacy and leadership within the nursing community. See www.nwhf.org

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