Initiative Will Help New York City Combat Nursing Shortage<\/p>\n
New York, NY \u2013 City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and CUNY Executive Vice Chancellor Alexandra Logue today announced plans to create 100 additional nurses each year for New York City for the next five years. The goal of this initiative, announced in the Speaker\u2019s State of the City address, will be to create new jobs and help address the nursing shortage that has plagued New York City for years. Speaker Quinn was joined by, Head of the CUNY Nursing program Bill Ebenstein, Chairman, Board of Directors of Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers Alfred E. Smith, Chief Nursing Officer of St. Vincent\u2019s Hospital Miriam Carasa, Carol Pitman of the New York State Nurses Association and Victoria King, Program Manager, Division of Education at 1199 SEIU.<\/p>\n
There are nearly 63,000 nurses in New York City, and 17% are 55 years old or older. Due to population increases, an aging population and retirement, New York City will need 7000 more nurses by 2020 than it is projected to have. As a result, if the current trajectory continues, New York City\u2019s nursing shortage will only continue to get worse. <\/p>\n
The nursing shortage in New York City is not due to lack of interest in the profession. Every year, 1,600 nurses graduate from CUNY schools throughout the City, and most of them remain within the five boroughs to practice. However, last year there were an additional 575 qualified applicants who are turned away due to lack of capacity at schools to teach them. These 575 people represent jobs that are lying vacant \u2013 not because they aren\u2019t needed – but because the City doesn\u2019t have the proper resources to train them.<\/p>\n
In an effort to address the nursing shortage and get more New Yorkers to work, Speaker Quinn proposed a five-year partnership between CUNY and New York City hospitals to increase the faculty at City nursing programs. Through this initiative, CUNY will work with hospitals to identify ten experienced nurses who will become guest faculty for one year. This will allow nurses to make a short term commitment to teaching, without losing their benefits. These ten additional faculty members will allow CUNY to admit an additional 100 nursing students to their programs each year, thereby creating 500 extra nurses in the next five years.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo many New Yorkers are struggling to find jobs today,\u201d said Speaker Christine C. Quinn. \u201cBut these nursing jobs are just laying vacant, waiting for a passionate and qualified nurse to fill them. This simple initiative, partnering CUNY nursing students with our hospital\u2019s nurses, will not only create jobs when our residents need them the most, but will help our health system and hospitals that are already working with a shortage of nurses.\u201d <\/p>\n
“Over the last five years CUNY has more than doubled the total number of graduates of its nursing programs, but even that greatly increased number is insufficient to satisfy New York City’s need for new nurses,\u201d said Dr. Alexandra Logue, CUNY Executive Vice Chancellor. \u201cThe additional resources to be provided through the City Council will help us to continue to expand our enrollments in these critical health programs.”<\/p>\n
This initiative will be a great boost for nursing in New York City, said Council Member Charles Barron. There is a shortage of nurses, and there is a need in CUNY. It will assist CUNY nursing students and assist all of New York City. This initiative will be a real boost to address the shortage of nurses within our City.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecoming a nurse is one of the best professions available,\u201d said Council Member Joel Rivera. \u201cWe need to ensure that people, who are looking for a solid career with great compensation, can have the resources available at their disposal. This joint collaboration between CUNY and the City Council brings us that much closer to getting people to work in a field that currently has a shortage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSaint Vincent\u2019s is pleased to have worked with CUNY last year on the pilot for this program,\u201d said Alfred E. Smith, IV, Chairman, Board of Directors, Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers. \u201cThe joint appointment model is a useful collaboration between a university-based program and an acute care organization. The relationship benefits both partners as it provides expanded nursing faculty, a high quality clinical experience for nursing students, a closer relationship between the academic setting and actual acute clinical practice, and a pool of nurses from which the hospital can recruit.\u201d<\/p>\n
“We applaud Speaker Christine Quinn for her leadership in addressing the nursing shortage in New York,\u201d said George Gresham, President, 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East. \u201cThis is a national crisis that has long been in need of a long-term solution as the population ages and the nursing workforce shrinks each year through retirement and attrition. We welcome additional training resources and Speaker Quinn’s CUNY initiative is a smart and strategic step towards maintaining the RN workforce at a level that protects the quality healthcare of New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\n
“Thousands of potential RNS are being turned away from nursing school each year due to the lack of nurse educators to teach them,” said Kathleen Nowak, RN, New York State Nursing Association Associate Director. “We desperately need educators to increase the ranks of registered nurses who can deliver quality patient care. Until we correct the source we can’t expect to resolve the nursing shortage.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Initiative Will Help New York City Combat Nursing Shortage<\/p>\n
New York, NY \u2013 City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and CUNY Executive Vice Chancellor Alexandra Logue today announced plans to create 100 additional nurses each year for New York City for the next five years. The goal of this initiative, announced in the Speaker\u2019s State of the City address, will be to create new jobs and help address the nursing shortage that has plagued New York City for years.<\/p>\n
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