RN Idaho - May 2021

May, June, July 2021 RN Idaho • Page 9
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
The Current State of Nursing in Idaho … Here’s My Take!
Randall Hudspeth PhD, APRN-CNP, FAANP
Executive Director, Idaho Center for Nursing
randhuds@msn.com
Being in the executive
director role and being linked
to all of Idaho’s nursing
organizations (ANAI, NLI,
SNOI, IDANA & NPI) through
the Idaho Center for Nursing
and its seven operational
programs affords me the
ability to keep my finger
on the pulse of nursing in
Idaho. My experiences as
an Idaho native, a former Randall Hudspeth
Board of Nursing member
and chairman, a nursing administrator and a nurse
practitioner have served me well. This has confirmed
to me what I have believed for many years; that nursing
as a profession “benefits the many through the hard
work and financial support of the few.” Nurses come
and go with varying levels of engagement, but luckily a
small cohort have been sustained that keeps us moving
forward, and in general, nursing in Idaho is in good
shape. I am happy to have the experience of working
with these programs and here is my take on where
nursing is today in Idaho.
Today’s issues facing nursing are not different
than those experienced in other states, or that
have been experienced historically in Idaho. Given
that the Coronavirus Pandemic has caused a
disruption to the normal way we functioned over
the past year, there has continued to be positive
changes for Idaho nursing. The international year
of the nurse 2020 activities, designed to celebrate
the 200th birth-year of Florence Nightingale, were
basically negated due to the pandemic. Thus, the
celebration year was extended by the International
Council of Nursing and the ANA through 2021.
The December 2020 Gallup Poll again identified
nursing as the most honest and ethical profession
for the 19th year in a row, with higher scores than
ever before and significantly outpacing any other
healthcare profession. This demonstrated how well
the actions of nurses are viewed by the public (Ref:
ANA. Available at The American Public Continues
to Rank Nurses as The Most Honest and Ethical
Professionals in Annual Gallup Poll (nursingworld.
org).
Nursing Workforce: Projected shortages and
mal-distribution across Idaho continues to be an
area where nursing has made an impact without
much support or awareness from non-nursing
groups. The pandemic provided a temporary
reprieve that impacted hospital staffing when
admissions were slowed, but demands in long term
care, assisted living, home care and public health
have been sustained or increased. Fortunately, the
supply of nurses met the need. However, we do
see an increase in nurses who are retiring earlier
than planned and we might see a loss of some
RNs who choose not to re-license in 2021 because
they are not working and they cannot meet the
continued competency requirements established
by the BON (see the BON report in this edition).
To mitigate a workforce shortage, every nursing
program in Idaho has plans in place to increase
student enrollments. Not all programs will be able
to increase enrollments to their full plan because
of faculty and clinical placement constraints, but
schools and faculty are aware of the pending
shortage and the mitigation strategy.
Engagement of Nurses in Professional
Organizations: Membership is an issue in every
organization. Throughout the years, nurses have reaped
the benefits achieved by professional organizations
in terms of practice scope, credentialing, continuing
education and clinical skill enhancement. It is pitiful that
in Idaho less than 5% of RNs support the ANA-Idaho
(Idaho Nurses Association). Even associations like
Nurse Practitioners of Idaho, that provide a measurable
benefit to all Idaho NPs in terms of legislation that
directly impacts NP scope of practice, only see 17%
of Idaho NPs being dues-paying members. Dues are
cheap for what a nurse receives (annually: ANA-Idaho
at $175.00 and NPI at $90). Nurses only need a few
hours of work to pay their share. Unfortunately, most
do not easily see the benefits of membership and have
a difficult time moving past the “what is in it for me”
conversation and seeing the bigger picture.
Public Policy Impact: Nurses are getting more
seats at more tables. Four years ago the National
Nurses on Boards Coalition set a goal of 10,000
nurses being on boards of directors by 2020. This
meant all kinds of boards and was not specific to
nursing or healthcare boards. Each state was given
a target based on the number of nurses licensed
and the state population. In Idaho, the goal was
to have 60 nurses seated on public boards. We
started with Idaho having 31 nurses being on
boards. By the end of 2020 Idaho exceeded its
goal by 178%.
Governor Little heard nursing’s concerns about
the mal-distribution of nurses across Idaho and
the issues that rural communities, critical access
hospitals and long-term care facilities experience
recruiting and retaining nurses. He designated $1M
in his 2021 budget proposal to address faculty and
nursing program operational issues. Additionally,
the Healthcare Transformation Council of Idaho
(HTCI) approved the development of a Rural Nurse
Loan Repayment (RNLR) program targeted to
impact the nursing workforce in rural communities.
When approved, RNLP will offer new graduate
nurses education loan repayments based on their
employment in a designated rural community and
evidence of loans. The RNLR is currently in the
final stages of development and is targeted for the
2022 legislative cycle for funding.
Meeting the Nursing Action Coalition
Goals: The work to achieve the 10 goals outlined
in the 2010 Institute of Medicine Report on the
Future of Nursing has continued in Idaho with great
success. This work has been supported by grants
from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and
the Idaho Board of Nursing. The target timeline
to attain the goals lasted through 2020. Here is a
summary of Idaho’s achievements that have not
already been explained.
• Achieve an 80% BSN prepared RN
workforce. Between 2010 and 2020 Idaho
moved from a 53.5% to a 77.5% BSN
prepared RN workforce, making Idaho
one of the top two states in the national to
achieve this goal.
• Improve opportunities for RN to BSN
education. Idaho educators are credited with
working to insure successful articulation
between associate degree and BSN
programs that resulted in our 77.5% BSN
level. With December 2020 and May 2021
graduations we expect to see a further
bump when the 2021 license renewal data is
reviewed.
• Enhance transition to practice programs for
new nurses. Over the past six years, five
different transition or residency programs
have been implemented at Idaho hospitals.
• Increasing opportunity for diversity students
is a national goal, but Idaho remains
challenged because there are not large
numbers of diversity students applying for
nursing school admission.
• Continuing Education opportunities for all
Idaho nurses have been expanded through
the use of a new learning management
system that offers approved CNE through
the professional organization websites to
both members and non-members at an
economical cost.
• Double the number of Doctorate Degree
prepared nurses in Idaho by supporting DNP
and PhD student research and scholarship
endowments at Idaho universities.
• Help APRNs eliminate barriers to practice.
Last year nursing supported the global
signature bill promoted by NPI that was
passed by the 2020 Idaho legislature. This
bill replaced the word “physician” with
“provider” in healthcare related regulations,
recognizing NPs signatures and thus
removing an access to care barrier and
some increased costs for patients.
• Sponsored a Nurse Refresher Program for
RNs and LPNs to return to practice. This
program is BON approved. It has been
continually updated and today it has a new
website and is both a paper product and
electronic. Over 60 nurses have successfully
completed Idaho’s refresher program.
I believe that nursing in Idaho will continue to
exert influence on public policy and politically.
I am hopeful that Idaho nurses will understand
the importance of the impacts made by the
professional associations and recognize that
support through membership is necessary for
continued progress. If you are already a member
of a professional nursing organization in Idaho,
THANK YOU. If you are not a member, please
become a part of the solution by joining and
helping to keep the profession growing and
progressing in Idaho.