Limited Capacity of Connecticut’s RN Schools and Programs of Nursing: Our Schools and Programs of Nursing have a very hire rate of student retention at approximately 95% and graduate approximately 2,100 students per year, yet it is not clear how many of these graduates become licensed in Connecticut and remain here to work. 

Reports

• 2021 CT Nursing Education Report- Demographics, Statistics and Recommendations
• ​​​2018 Nursing Education Data

Online Resources

• www.CTCenterForNursingWorkforce.com
  
• Nursing Data Portal (ctdata.org)
  
• https://oadn.org/news/nacnep-report-preparing-nurse-faculty-and-addressing-the-shortage-of-nurse-faculty-and-clinical-preceptors/
  
• https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/dfigital-education-for-building-health-workforce-capacity-978-92-4-000047-6

As both RNs and LPNs comprise the largest licensed profession in the health workforce, it is critical that Connecticut dedicate, time, energy and resources to better understand the Education, Supply and Demand dynamics for nursing professionals to ensure that our State can produce the numbers and types of nurses that we will need to provide safe and quality care to our residents. ​

The WHO report cites critical research and references as to why and how Simulation as well as other Virtual learning technologies can transform learning and better prepare our students to meet national competencies and successfully transition to practice thereby limiting the human capital and financial resources that our healthcare settings spend to onboard the new nurse. 
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Access the WHO Report at:  https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/dfigital-education-for-building-health-workforce-capacity-978-92-4-000047-6

This Report was prepared by the National Advisory Council on Nursing Education and Practice.

In their 17th Report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the US Congress this past December, is meant to inform the Secretary and Congress on Policy matters arising in the administration of Title VIII Funding pertaining to nursing workforce, nursing education and nursing practice.
Nursing Education is in crisis, and it will take ALL of us to stem the tide and expand our educational pipeline capacity!

​Report can be found at:  https://oadn.org/news/nacnep-report-preparing-nurse-faculty-and-addressing-the-shortage-of-nurse-faculty-and-clinical-preceptors/

In early June of 2021, the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action took a first step towards realizing the vision outlined in the National Academy of Medicine’s (NAM) new report, The Future of Nursing 2020 – 2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity. A virtual Summit with 200 key opinion leaders, experts, and change makers across the fields of health care, nursing, business, academia, and social justice participated in the 2-day hands on event. Twenty-eight (28) teams were created to address each of the report’s 54 sub-recommendations (under its nine major recommendations), answered questions including, What multi-sector partnerships are needed to implement this recommendation? and What milestones or benchmarks will tell us we’ve succeeded?
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The result was 54 Draft Action Plans, each with specific tasks, timelines, and goals, that can guide how nursing will help transform health, health care and health equity for all.  Access the action plans and next steps @ https://campaignforaction.org/resources/future-of-nursing-2030-action-hub/

Resources are available for your organizations to utilize via your State Action Coalitions that undertook many initiatives related to the 2020 Future of Nursing Report published by the National Academy of Medicine. Even if your Action Coalition is not active, the national website for the Campaign still has a treasure trove of materials and toolkits refenced for your use- All free of charge.
In Connecticut, as one of the statewide initiatives via our Coalition, a 4- module online self-paced Population Health Course was created and launched. Although the activities and monies to support the Coalition have waned, The Board of the CT League for Nursing made a commitment to keep the course up and running with a major content revision and update competed in this past July.  This Course can be accessed at: www.CLNOnlineEducation.com
National Campaign resources can be found at:  https://campaignforaction.org/resources/#p=1

In the executive summary of this report, six out of eight priorities for nurse-led transformation directly correlate to the issues that you've identified in your thinktank white paper.  These include:

• Designing new models of care
• Empowering nurses to lead
• Cultivating the pipeline of new nurses
• Prioritizing well-being in mental health
• Enhanced partnerships with academia
• Building a Workforce for tomorrow- Planning at the regional & national levels

Report can be found at: https://nursing.jnj.com/accelerating-nursing-transforming-healthcare

This report provides baseline workforce data and is created in collaboration between the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) and the National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers.  The most recent April 2021 Survey Report can be found at WWW.journalofnursingregulation.com
The Report highlights the demographics of RNS an LPNs across the nation. 
As you know, data without context, benchmarking and discussion & debrief with “intimate” stakeholders may not paint an accurate picture.
Although this report is a very robust reflection of employment of nurses across the country, the items included in the minimum data set for supply were created for the purposes of licensing and regulation and not truly designed to capture the nuances of an ever-changing nursing workforce.
Many forecasting models used to project demand and future supply are based on employment patterns in the past.  You know better than I… that this no longer holds true, Nurses do not get hired by one institution right out of school and spend their entire careers with that employer.  They move constantly and cause what is now termed as “The Churn” .  Researchers are still trying to get a hold of this phenomena and incorporate it into new forecasting models to better align our supply projections.