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After more than a year of study, nursing experts in Utah have offered a possible blueprint for keeping a severe nursing shortage in the Beehive State from becoming a life-threatening healthcare crisis.
Their suggestions warrant the serious attention of lawmakers and leaders in higher education!
The Nursing Leadership Forum says an annual infusion of $6 million would allow the six state-funded nursing education programs to expand. More nurses could be trained.
As it now stands, Utah’s nursing shortage in terms of nurses per thousand people reportedly is third worst in the country.
That should alarm every Utahn, especially in the wake of a new national study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study concluded some 20,000 people nationally die each year because they check into a hospital with overworked nurses.
Fortunately, Utah has plenty of young people who desire to become nurses. Sadly, hundreds of them are turned away each year because the nursing programs are full.
With additional funding, faculty can be hired and programs expanded to meet the demand. KSL believes the prospects of such a long-term solution to a pending crisis must be given the highest priority.
