Schools tackle nursing shortage

LEWES -- By the end of 2013, the Margaret H. Rollins School of Nursing at Beebe Medical Center expects to double its class size as a result of a major expansion that aims to alleviate the nursing shortage on Delmarva.
Made possible by a $3 million donation, the project will include construction of a new building and renovations to the old structure in which the school is currently housed. Work is expected to begin this spring and wrap up within 18 months.
Upon completion, the school will gradually increase its single class size from 30 to 60 students, according to the school's director, Connie Bushey.
In Delaware, a state study conducted in 2000 projected that 50 percent more nurses will be needed in 2020 due to population increases and nurses leaving the field. However, due to the economic downturn, medical professionals haven't been so quick to retire, Bushey said.
Luckily, with its own nursing school contributing to its staff, Beebe has a unique role to fill vacant positions.
"Our graduates have been welcomed into clinical arenas or other hospitals," Bushey said. "The school places approximately 60 percent of its graduates at the hospital. They have the valued ability to start the actual nurse role very experienced because of their hands-on training."
Peninsula Regional Medical Center doesn't have its own nursing school, but it recruits new employees through partnerships with Salisbury University, Wor-Wic Community College and Delaware Technical & Community College.
According to Scott Peterson, PRMC vice president of human resources, the hospital is unable to accept all applicants.
"Since the recession began in 2008, our nursing shortage has shrunk," he said. "We have to turn away some new nurses coming out of school, which is strange for a lot of places."
While statistics from the Delaware Healthcare Association show the nursing shortage still exists, it's not as serious as once projected.
"When the economy changed, people made the decision to not retire or to come back into the workforce," said June Taransky, DelTech's vice president for academic affairs and former nursing chair of the Owens Campus in Georgetown. "We're going to see those people eventually take that option and retire, so we're going to continue to have the nursing shortage."
According to a 2009 DHA study, the seven hospitals in Delaware were projected to need 7,900 new nurses and allied health professionals -- like lab technicians and medical assistants -- between 2008 and 2014. The figure doesn't address the needs of physicians' offices, nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
With so many people out of work, the demand for health care education is sky high, and the schools that offer it can't accommodate the demand. DelTech has expanded its nursing program by 94 percent since 2002, yet it still has a substantial waiting list, according to Lisa Sheppard, vice president of marketing and public relations.
Wor-Wic admits 80 first-year nursing students per year and has a waiting list of more than 400 people, according to Cate Trego-Cordrey, the school's community relations coordinator. She said most, if not all, of the school's graduates are hired.
DelTech's program places more than 90 percent of graduates, Sheppard said, noting almost 50 percent of DelTech grads come from the nursing and allied health programs.
"There are only so many clinical spots and we only have so much space devoted to science labs," she said. "There is no shortage of people wanting to get into our allied health programs. We have a capacity issue."