The Need to Know. (CEO Corner‪)‬

Rarely does a need resonate so clearly as does Georgia's current critical need for a nursing workforce planning center. What we already know is that despite the fact that Georgia is the ninth largest state, it ranks 19th in the production of nurses. Currently the nursing vacancy rate in Georgia hospitals and nursing homes is 15-18% with a 20% vacancy rate for public health nurses. There is also a 10% nurse faculty vacancy rate with 41% of nursing professors in our state age 55 or older and a reported 63 retirements planned in the next five years. The lack of adequate compensation for nursing faculty has been a deterrent for recruitment and retention of Georgia's nursing faculty. A high vacancy rate in faculty currently prevents Georgia's nursing schools from admitting 4000 qualified applicants each year and exacerbates the workforce shortage. In fact, in 2006 Georgia graduated 600 less RNs than in 1996 and has only produced 15 nurses with doctoral degrees since 2000. Georgia's population is expected to grow 20% over the next decade. Our state's growing and aging population is creating a continuous increase in the demand for healthcare services that exceeds the current workforce capacity. Nurses know this because they live it everyday. Georgia ranks 42nd in its per capita supply of registered nurses and 48th in advanced practice nursing care. The current nursing shortage is not news to anyone and it is not the first shortage Georgia has experienced. If there is any hope of a well thought out process to address this one and others in the future then there is an undeniable need to have a centralized process for collecting and analyzing statewide nursing workforce data related to all work settings so it can be fully understood. The collaborative work of the Georgia Nurses Foundation lead by Tim Porter O'Grady during its Leadership Initiative Project several years ago gathered community stakeholders together to do an environmental scan and raise awareness about the need to address these issues. This work included the participation of nurse leaders from all over the state along side community leaders and workforce stakeholders. It was clear then, as it is now, that GNA & GNF have the capacity to bring the community together around this issue.