Arizona Healthcare Workforce Data Center Reveals Dramatic Need for RNs through 2017
Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association’s Healthcare Institute Announces Launch of Healthcare Workforce Data Center
In May, Arizona’s nurses and hospitals celebrated their respective recognition holidays, National Nurses Week (May 6-12) and National Hospital Week (May 11-17). The Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association (AzHHA) recognizes these healthcare professionals and providers by unveiling the results of a first-time study from the recently launched Arizona Healthcare Workforce Data Center, HealthWorks™. This study reveals Arizona’s dramatic need for registered nurses who are essential to our hospitals and the patients they serve.
Arizona will need approximately 49,000 new registered nurses (RNs) by the year 2017, according to The Arizona RN Shortage: 2007 Results, the first report published by the recently launched HealthWorks™, the Arizona Healthcare Workforce Data Center established by the Healthcare Institute at the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association (AzHHA).
“Nurses are the foundation of a healthcare system and these staggering numbers demonstrate there is much to be done in order to fortify that foundation,” said James Puffenburger, FACHE, AzHHA Board of Directors and president/chief executive officer, Northern Arizona Healthcare. “It’s my hope, and the hope of AzHHA’s Healthcare Institute, that this ground-breaking study will be used to formulate solutions to Arizona’s critical statewide shortage of registered nurses.”
The Data Center is the first ever to forecast Arizona’s future needs for RNs. It revealed major factors contributing to the shortage including:
- Arizona’s rapidly growing population; and
- the significant number Arizona RNs who are nearing retirement.
Of the approximately 49,000 RNs Arizona will need by 2017:
- 20,000 will be needed to keep pace with the state’s growing population as well as to close the gap between Arizona’s current average ratio of 681 RNs per 100,000 residents and the U.S. average ratio of 825 RNs per 100,000 residents;
- 10,000 RNs will be required to replace retiring RNs as one-third of the state’s RNs are older than 55; and
- 19,000 RNs—3.5 percent annually—will be needed to account for the profession’s attrition rate.
The RN Shortage: Its Impact on Our State & Its CountiesAccording to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)—the federal agency responsible for tracking the health professions shortage in the U.S.—Arizona ranks well below the national average for RNs per 100,000 population. HRSA’s study, The Registered Nurse Population National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses, is published every four years and has served as a barometer of state-by-state RN needs throughout the nation.
“The Data Center study demonstrates what has been of concern to the healthcare community for some time: that the national RN average—which has been Arizona’s target—is woefully inadequate for our state’s growing population,” said Adda Alexander, RN, MBA, AzHHA’s executive vice president.
The Data Center study also revealed county-by-county variations, with 12 of the state’s 15 counties falling below the national average of RNs per 100,000 population. Three Arizona counties—Coconino, Pima and Yavapai—exceed the national average and are still facing shortages of RNs. Maricopa County is close to exceeding the national average.
“Even counties that exceed or are close to the national average for RNs per 100,000 population are in desperate need of these professionals,” said Richard Polheber, a member of AzHHA’s Healthcare Institute Advisory Board and chief executive officer, Carondelet Holy Cross Hospital-Nogales.
Arizona’s RN shortage is coupled with rapid population growth. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2007 Arizona was the nation’s second fastest growing state. Additionally, the state’s population soared approximately 20 percent from April 2000 to July 2006. The U.S. population grew 6 percent during those same years.
The Education Bottleneck: APNE’s Success Still Not Enough to Address Arizona’s Growing Population
Another factor contributing to Arizona’s nursing shortage is insufficient capacity in the state’s nursing education programs. According to the 2007 Annual Report of the Arizona State Board of Nursing, 2,693 qualified applicants were not admitted to RN programs in 2007. The Data Center report projects that Arizona’s nursing education programs would need to graduate an additional 2,235 RNs each year through 2017 just to keep pace with the state’s population growth.
In 2005, Senator Carolyn Allen (R-Scottsdale) and Governor Janet Napolitano backed Senate Bill (SB) 1517, also known as Arizona’s Partnership for Nursing Education (APNE). This legislation appropriated a total of $20 million over five years to double the capacity of Arizona’s college and university nursing education programs by increasing the number of nurse education faculty. The call to double nursing education program capacity actually began in 2002, when the Arizona Legislature passed SB1260 which required the state’s community colleges and public universities to double their nursing program enrollments in five years (2007).
Between 2002 and 2007, Arizona’s RN graduation rate increased 108 percent, according to statistics gathered by the Arizona State Board of Nursing. In 2002, 1,133 RNs graduated from Arizona nursing programs and in 2007, the programs graduated 2,364 RNs, thereby doubling the graduates from all RN nursing education programs in the five years allotted by SB 1260.
“I am pleased with the progress that has been made, but continue to be very concerned about how this nursing shortage affects Arizonans,” said Governor Janet Napolitano. “Just this year I issued an Executive Order directing the Arizona Department of Commerce to develop a healthcare workforce plan that addresses healthcare education and training, identifies the specific types of professionals needed and recommends an equitable distribution of healthcare professionals across the state’s geographic regions.”
AzHHA and its leadership agree with this assessment and continue to work on strategies to address Arizona’s healthcare workforce shortage.
“Given the capacity of Arizona’s nursing education programs and the current number of such programs, it would be extremely difficult to graduate enough RNs to keep pace with both Arizona’s population growth and the anticipated RN retirement rate,” said Sharon Gardner, chair of AzHHA’s Healthcare Institute and vice president, Human Resources for Yuma Regional Medical Center. “HCI is confident this Data Center report will ignite the innovative spirit that has helped address this issue in the past.”
The Data Center: Arming Decision Makers with Information The Data Center will continue to provide Arizona’s healthcare leaders with the data they need to make critical workforce decisions and to track the impact of solutions that are implemented. In 2008-09, the Data Center will issue reports on Arizona’s shortage of:
- RNs;
- licensed practical nurses;
- nurse practitioners;
- pharmacists; and
- pharmacy technicians.
To learn more about the Data Center, visit www.azhha.org/workforce.
###
About the Healthcare Workforce Data Center
HealthWorks™, the Arizona Healthcare Workforce Data Center is a collaborative effort that includes:
- Arizona Department of Commerce;
- Arizona Department of Health Services;
- Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System;
- AzHHA;
- Aizona State Board of Nursing;
- Arizona State Board of Pharmacy;
- Arizona State University’s Center for Health Information and Research (CHIR);
- BHHS Legacy Foundation is an Arizona charitable organization whose philanthropic mission is to enhance the quality of life and health of those it serves;
- Maricopa Workforce Connections;
- Office of Governor Janet Napolitano; and
- St. Luke’s Health Initiatives.
The Data Center was founded by the Healthcare Institute at AzHHA for the purpose of collecting the data needed to address Arizona’s critical shortage of healthcare professionals.
About the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association
The Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association (AzHHA) is comprised of 108 active members. The Association provides leadership on issues affecting the delivery, quality, accessibility and cost effectiveness of healthcare in Arizona. For more than 60 years, AzHHA has advocated for Arizona's hospitals and their patients, also serving as an information source and educator on healthcare issues.
For more information about AzHHA, visit www.azhha.org.