{"id":93948,"date":"2022-11-30T15:44:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-30T21:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=93948"},"modified":"2022-12-21T09:09:53","modified_gmt":"2022-12-21T15:09:53","slug":"discussion-reflects-on-building-the-nursing-workforce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2022\/11\/30\/discussion-reflects-on-building-the-nursing-workforce\/","title":{"rendered":"Discussion reflects on building the nursing workforce"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nursing workforce dynamics impact more than nurses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to burnout and fatigue, shortages can result in reduced services for patients, increased expenses related to overtime and traveling nurses and even difficulty placing clinical students, said Juliann Sebastian, PhD, dean of the UNMC College of Nursing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Sebastian shared reflections on the nursing workforce during Monday\u2019s Breakthrough Thinking Conference series. According to the Nebraska Department of Labor, she said, there were 2,486 jobs openings in November for registered nurses and an estimated .06 candidates available for each job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, Dr. Sebastian, who will retire in 2023, said the UNMC College of Nursing has worked hard to expand enrollment and build clinical partnerships that enhance the nursing workforce and benefit all Nebraskans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Designed to challenge and inspire out-of-the-box thinking, the first of this season\u2019s Breakthrough Thinking series focused on creating a stronger post-pandemic nursing workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See the recording of the Breakthrough Thinking session.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Said Peter Buerhaus, PhD, a nurse and health care economist known for his studies and publications focused on the nursing and physician workforces in the United States: \u201cThere seems to be pessimism about the future, but history shows that, guided by leadership and data, positive change can occur.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the 1998-2002 national nursing shortage, he said, the workforce grew stronger because of strategies by the Joint Commission and American Hospital Association, Johnson and Johnson\u2019s Campaign for Nursing\u2019s Future and the Nurse Reinvestment Act passed by Congress in 2002.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in a position (again) to make this a positive decade,\u201d said Dr. Buerhaus, professor of nursing and director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Health Workforce Studies at Montana State University\u2019s College of Nursing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His optimism stems, in part, from strengths within the registered nurse workforce, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n