New Hampshire - March 2022

Page 12 • New Hampshire Nursing News March, April, May 2022
One Nurses Opinion:
Where Have All the
Nurses Gone?
Rita J. Morin, DNP, RN, NEA-BC
There has been a lot of attention to the nursing shortage. It has been a topic
for many years, but it has reached critical levels during the Covid-19 pandemic.
This article reflects the opinion of one nurse related to several issues affecting
licensed registered nurse staffing.
Supply and Demand
According to the 2017 report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services Health Resources and Services Administration: Supply and Demand
Projections of the Nursing Workforce: 2014-2030, New Hampshire was
projected to have a supply of 21,300 Registered Nurses and a Demand of only
20,200. The total number of licensed registered nurses in New Hampshire
listed in the 2021 7th Annual Report from the Office of Professional Licensure
and Certification was 22,891 or 7.2% over the 2023 projection, and this was
after removing the 2104 RNs practicing with emergency licenses issued in
2021. Do we have more nurses in N.H. than we need? In fact, it is not about
the numbers.
The discrepancy between the supply and demand, based on the 2017 data,
must be viewed in the context of the ongoing pandemic, which has required
patients to receive more specialized care and has resulted in higher patient
volumes in our hospitals. This certainly could not have been predicted. As the
pandemic wages on, the capacities of our acute care hospitals continue to be
strained by the ebb and flow of patient demand. The exodus of licensed nurses
from the workforce has hit N.H. hard; in a recent Union Leader article, it was
estimated that there are currently 8,000 licensed nurses who are not working
in the state or who have left healthcare entirely. That certainly changes the
number of available nurses and the real effect is not captured by available
data. Even more elusive is data related to the number of nurses who are
traveling across state lines to work.
Nursing Salary
The mean salary for a registered nurse in N.H. is $73,800 annually or $35 per
hour. Compared to $93,160 annually or $44.78 per hour in Massachusetts.
There has been some recent level setting; however, N.H. does continue to
lag. Many nurses living in the southern part of the state trade the quality of
life afforded by working closer to home for the hourly commute necessary for
higher salaries paid by hospitals across our southern border.
Travel Nursing
Travel Nursing, especially during the pandemic, has become very lucrative. In
a recent conversation with a “travel nurse”, she revealed that she could work
3-12 hour shifts as a travel nurse for premium pay at a hospital less than 20
miles away from her home while continuing to work her scheduled 3-12 hour
shifts at her “usual” hospital. Some agencies offer guaranteed overtime and
salaries of $4000 or more a week and charge premium rates to organizations
that are struggling to fill staff vacancies. This does not seem to be a sustainable
option. Unfortunately, as nurses continue taking travel assignments, the supply
of nurses in N.H. and other states will continue to fluctuate, and the market
will not be able to stabilize. Another unsustainable solution.
Continued Threats
Work overload and burnout remain significant threats to our nursing workforce
in N.H., as throughout the country, which has increased due to the Covid-19
pandemic. Ongoing limitations in workforce development due to insufficient
numbers of nursing faculty continue to constrain the nursing supply. The
retirement of experienced nurse faculty and the low salaries in academia for
qualified nurses, who can earn more providing direct care, is a significant
concern. Without a supply of new qualified nurse educators to replace those
that have left leaves many schools throughout the U.S. in a situation with more
applicants than nursing program capacity.
I want all of the healthcare workers, volunteers, and communities to know, we see
you! We see you stepping up when you don’t know where the next step is. We see
you holding your heads high despite the pile of rubble heaped atop of you. We see
you giving every last bit of energy when you don’t feel you have any left to give. We
see you continuing to fight this treacherous COVID war despite the never-ending
battles. It is a challenging world to be a part of and every single person is feeling the
effects.
As a nurse practitioner (NP) by training, mother by blessing, and health care leader
by privilege, I want to recognize the nation’s 290,000 NPs working across all health
care settings who continue to step up, lead by example, and volunteer their time
and energy into taking care of others in a time of desperation. This act of selflessness
comes with a known consequence of taking time away from one’s personal life,
family, and self-care.
I cannot adequately urge each and every one of you to check-in with yourself
regularly. Make sure you are working to learn new healthy coping skills, as we
continue to realize some of our prior coping skills may no longer be viable options.
Please take time to check in with a friend, colleague or stranger. Always offer kindness.
Nurse practitioners continue to be critical in educating, vaccinating, and caring for
patient populations across New Hampshire and our country. The New Hampshire
Nurse Practitioner Association continues to stand with NPs and all health care
providers through this pandemic.
NHNPA is excited to offer a variety of opportunities for NPs to: recognize one another,
learn together and advocate for our profession and the patients that we serve. Please
visit nhnpa.org to learn more.
NHNPA Annual Awards Program
Nominate a colleague today for one of NHNPA's annual awards. Annually, NHNPA
recognizes outstanding NP's and supporters who have gone above and beyond
to support our profession. New this year, we will also be recognizing a student and
preceptor of the year. Recipients are honored at the Northern New England Nurse
Practitioner Conference. Nominations will be accepted for the 2022 awards until
March 11, 2022.
NHNPA Legislative Affairs
We See You
With hundreds of bills before the NH legislature this session, you may be wondering
how our NHNPA leadership decides when and how to engage in the state's legislative
process. Our staff, consultants, and members have decades of experience navigating
the NH State Government including the legislative and executive branches. Our
team includes recognized leaders in both the state and Nation's capitol. Under the
leadership of our committee chair Siobhan Benham, we are engaged in: legislation,
rulemaking, administrative hearings, and licensure and regulatory matters. NHNPA is
also represented on a wide-rage of legislative commissions through appointed seats.
Northern New England Nurse Practitioner Conference
The conference planning committee, led by Evie Stacy, has been working diligently
to plan this key event. With the combination of: a destination location and extensive
agenda we are confident that this is an event that you do not want to miss! We look
forward to seeing you on April 7-8, 2022 at the Mount Washington Hotel - Bretton
Woods, NH. Pre-conference workshops will be offered on April 6. The event features
three Keynote addresses, 40+ esteemed faculty, 30+ concurrent sessions, several
poster sessions, 50+ exhibitors, 20 CEs, one Leadership in Healthcare Reception with
live music, endless opportunities for networking, learning, and fun!
Advocacy
There are no easy answers. We need to encourage our government leaders to
prioritize the over 4 million nurses in the U.S. by continuing to address issues
facing the profession such as the nursing shortage, workplace violence, and
ensuring adequate PPE, to name a few. You can act by signing on to a letter
to your legislator to help end the nursing shortage crisis: Nurses Don’t Need
Platitudes. Congress must help end the nursing shortage crisis
https://p2a.co/lx0lkjt?p2asource=STAFFINGFCSNACALL292022
Editors Note: This opinion was submitted in part in response to an editorial
published recently by Linda Aiken and Claire Fagan “Medicare Can Help Fix
the Nursing Shortage.” https://www.statnews.com/2022/02/08/medicare-canhelp-fix-the-nurse-shortage-in-hospitals/