WASHINGTON, DC, March 12, 1999 -- In an effort to help meet the health system's escalating demand for professional nursing care, the Division of Nursing, in the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has contracted with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) to coordinate a series of regional meetings on strategies to increase enrollments in bachelor's-degree nursing education programs.

The six invitational meetings, which were held in February and early this month, provided deans and directors of baccalaureate nursing programs the opportunity to meet with and advise the Division on possible initiatives for expanding student enrollments. Congress, in the recently reauthorized Nurse Education Act (Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act), included an authorization for an initiative to expand baccalaureate student enrollments in schools of nursing.

The National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice, in a report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on the registered nurse workforce, recommended that at least two-thirds of the basic nurse workforce hold baccalaureate or higher degrees in nursing by 2010. The National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses showed that, in 1996, 41 percent of RNs held at least a bachelor's degree, compared with 32 percent with two-year associate degrees and 27 percent with diplomas from hospital training programs.

Enrollments in entry-level baccalaureate nursing programs fell by 5.5 percent in fall 1998, the fourth consecutive decline in as many years, according to AACN data.

Boosting the supply of baccalaureate-prepared RNs is pivotal to ensuring a sufficient nursing workforce now and for the near future," says AACN President Andrea R. Lindell, DNSc, RN. "The continued downturn in entry-level bachelor's-degree enrollments comes at a critically inopportune time. Federal and other recommended policy targets call for expanding numbers of baccalaureate- and graduate-prepared nurses to handle the needs of an increasingly complex health care environment. Meanwhile, an aging RN workforce has increased concerns about high numbers of registered nurses who are projected to retire within the next two decades."

Policy leaders note that the health system's mounting complexity requires higher numbers of nurses who are educated in baccalaureate-degree programs that emphasize broad preparation in basic as well as behavioral and social sciences, more independent clinical decisionmaking in less-structured environments, communication skills, and health promotion and cost-effective coordinated care across a variety of settings, including community-based care. Baccalaureate preparation also provides nurses with a foundation to enter graduate training for advanced practice and management roles.

We're pleased to have this opportunity to partner with the Division to learn first-hand the experiences of nursing schools from a broad array of localities and institutions, and to hear their recommendations for assuring a sufficient cadre of professional nurses prepared at the baccalaureate level," Dr. Lindell says.

Meetings were held in Atlanta, Ga.; Boston, Mass.; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas, Tex.; Minneapolis, Minn.; and Phoenix, Ariz. Representatives of public and private institutions, large and small enrollments, rural and urban environments, multiple-degree universities and independent colleges, schools of nursing and departments, and nursing programs that are single- or multi-campus were invited to attend the sessions in each region.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing is the national voice for university and four-year-college education programs in nursing -- the nation's largest health care profession. Representing more than 500 member schools of nursing at public and private institutions nationwide, AACN's educational, research, governmental advocacy, data collection, publications, and other programs work to establish quality standards for bachelor's- and graduate-degree nursing education, assist deans and directors to implement those standards, influence the nursing profession to improve health care, and promote public support of baccalaureate and graduate nursing education, research, and practice.

CONTACT: Robert Rosseter
(202) 463-6930, x231
rrosseter@aacn.nche.edu

Top | Media Relations | AACN Home