Coalition urges new funding to fill Texas nursing shortage

BROWNSVILLE -- A group focused on curbing Texas' nursing shortage is asking the state's help in producing more healthcare providers.

The Texas Nursing Workforce Shortage Coalition, composed of more than 100 organizations, requested $60 million in special-item funding from the state Legislature to train a new generation of registered nurses.

According to the coalition, Texas hospitals have been recruiting foreign nurses to fill vacancies while the state's nursing schools have turned away thousands of qualified applicants because they lack sufficient faculty to teach additional students.

"Demand for full-time registered nurses in Texas in 2008 exceeded supply by 22,000 and, without major increases in funding for nurse education, this gap will widen to 70,000 by 2020 as the state's rapidly growing population ages and as older nurses retire or reduce the hours they work," said Dan Stultz, the chairman of the coalition and the president and chief executive officer of the Texas Hospital Association.

If approved, the special-item funding would be split into two sections. Programs with a graduation rate exceeding 70 percent would receive $37 million.

Those schools would receive $20,000 per new student, with each school increasing their registered nurse enrollment by about 25 percent. The University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College falls into this category, since the school's registered nurse program had a graduation rate of 78 percent last year. That means UTB-TSC would add 56 new enrollees during the 2009 to 2010 school year.

Nursing programs with a graduation rate of less than 70 percent would receive only half of their funding up front. They would enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which would stipulate that after new enrollees complete their first year, schools would receive an additional 25 percent of the funding. After students complete their second year, they would receive the final 25 percent.

The new funding would be a significant increase over the $15 million already allocated through the state's Professional Nursing Shortage Reduction Program. The money through this program is given to schools after nursing programs increase their number of graduates.

Jennifer Banda, senior director of governmental relations for the Texas Hospital Association, says that retroactive funding makes it difficult for schools to use the money to hire new faculty.

"Once you get those new students in, you'll have enough money to keep paying the faculty," Banda said. "We believe that once we get these new nurses, and give nursing in Texas a jumpstart, we can change the trajectory of nursing in this state."

Banda says that $60 million is not nearly enough to truly address the nursing shortage, but this amount would allow schools to make quick changes, like hiring new faculty, without requiring them to build new facilities to house classes.

Katherine Dougherty, the director of UTB-TSC's associate degree nursing program, says the boon is necessary not only to graduate more students, but also to ensure that students have enough one-on-one attention to stay in the program.

"It's not that students can't do the work," Dougherty said. "Sometimes just a math problem can scare them. They need attention."

The coalition argues that graduating new nurses would have a multi-tiered effect. With more nurses, hospitals would be better equipped to serve patients, and patients would receive more personalized care. In a community that struggles with chronic health problems, like obesity and diabetes, having the one-on-one attention of a nurse might help to communicate better lifestyle habits to patients.

The coalition also emphasized the benefit of creating more high-wage jobs for local people. Nursing jobs pay well and, according to the coalition, are stable even in a changing economy.

Rep. Rene Oliveira, D-Brownsville, says he supports the proposal, but that money is tight this legislative session.

"There clearly is a serious shortage and I think it's affecting the quality of medicine," Oliveira said. "The problem with special-items is they go on a wish list in the appropriations bill and then we try to get them taken care of at the end of the session if we can find the money."

Banda says she knows the obstacles the coalition faces are great.

"The cost of not funding this item is even greater," she said.

Laura Tillman is a reporter for The Brownsville Herald.