Forty-six former nursing masters and doctoral students have been chosen to participate in the New Jersey Nursing Initiative.  The $22 million program, which is privately funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, has pledged to help solve the looming nursing shortage in the state. 

The 46 participants will be receiving a $50,000 stipend, along with full-rides to attend in-state schools.  However, they must teach nursing students at a New Jersey college for a minimum of three years after graduation. 

According to Susan Bakeswell-Sachs, director of the program and nursing dean at the College of New Jersey, women opting to enter different professional fields and a decline in scholarships for nursing students throughout the 1990s are two main causes of the current shortage.  In addition, Nurses who work in clinical settings make on average $50,000 more per year than a nurse educator. 

Even though studies from the early 2000s predicted nursing shortages within the next 15-20 years, enrollment in the field has dramatically increased.  However, the number of faculty and administrators cannot accommodate this influx.  In fact, roughly 50,000 nurse student applications are denied each year because of faculty shortages.

Billboards in Philadelphia are urging nurses to move into the classroom so that more aspiring nurses can be educated and the nursing shortage can be averted.  The recession plays a role in the shortage as well, but surprisingly a positive one.  Nurses who would otherwise be retired are still working due to financial constraints. In addition, nurses who had been temping part-time when the economy was in better shape have also started going back to full-time employment. According to Linda Aiken, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, believes that once the recession ends, the nursing shortage will most likely become a crisis as these older nurses begin to retire; add in Obama’s proposed health care plan to provide 47 million more Americans with health insurance, and the nursing shortage of today seems almost irrelevant.

Click here to read the Philly.com article: Scholarship program aims to stem N.J. nursing shortage

The medical staffing factoring experts at PRN Funding recently came across an article in The Daily Tell that focused on the nation’s nurse shortage. A summary of the article is included below:

The number of nurses in America is declining at an alarming rate.  As the aging baby boomer population demands health care, more nurses are depended upon everyday.  Nurses are vital to health care success.  In fact, with more nurses working in a healthcare setting, fewer medical mistakes are made and fewer hospital-acquired infections are obtained.  Studies also show that hospitals with more nurses have shorter patient stays and lower patient mortality rates.  There are currently 2.5 million nurses in America; projections for 2025 have this number at 500,000. 

Luckily, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) have begun working together on an initiative to inject more qualified nurses into the American health care system.  Their partnership will create a panel of health care experts and aims to create and improve nursing education programs for the future. 

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of RWJF explains that, “For health reform to succeed, and for patients to receive better care at a cost we can afford, we must change the way health care is delivered.  And nursing is at the heart of patient care.”

Nurses currently make up the largest section of the health care workforce.  Hopefully this initiative keeps it that way. 

To read the entire article click here: Nursing initiative will address future of healthcare, nursing shortage

The Haley Marketing Group talked up the advantages of LinkedIn, a social networking site for business people, in this week’s Net-Temps Recruiters e-newsletter.  The newsletter was in response to an inquiry from a staffing firm asking how and if they should use LinkedIn.  The temporary nurse staffing factoring specialists at PRN Funding thought this information would be useful to our staffing readers.

LinkedIn’s base of over 42 million people in 170 industries from all over the world is expanding by the second.  In fact, according to LinkedIn, one account is created every second.  But is LinkedIn becoming the next Facebook for business people? The Haley Marketing Group believes it is a powerful tool that can positively impact your medical staffing business.  Below are some of their tips for success.

1. Maximize your network– Build a big network of former clients, prospective candidates, colleagues at former employers, alumni from schools you went to, and members of other groups you join.
2. Use the company search– Find important executives who work at specific firms or recruit with LinkedIn by connecting with current or former employees in specific job functions.
3. Use the people search tool– This feature allows you to search for candidates based on specific keywords they have listed in their profile.
4. Use the group search tool– Find organizations and networking groups of people who are relevant to the types of prospects you are looking to hire. (Insert info about the “Temporary Nurse Staffing” Group here, and include the link.)
5. Build your credibility– Ask for recommendations, share relevant articles with groups you join, and answer questions. 
6. Keep people informed– Going to a trade show? Make sure you let people know when you are attending an event.
7. Track your competition– Use the company search to see how they are utilizing LinkedIn.

The Haley Marketing Group had a very business-wide applicable write-up in last week’s Net-Temps Recruiters e-newsletter, in which they broke down the consequences of lowering prices in a bad economy as well as thoughtful alternatives to price decreases. The newsletter was in response to an inquiry from a staffing firm asking if they should follow their competitors and lower their prices. The medical staffing factoring specialists at PRN Funding thought this information would be useful to our staffing readers. Below is a brief overview of Haley Marketing Group’s response. They claim that lowering prices is a bad idea because it:

1. Devalues your services.
2. Makes people think you were overpriced.
3. Assumes price elasticity exists.
4. Assumes price is the most important buying criteria.
5. It will be almost impossible for you to raise your prices once the economy picks up again.

 Here are some of their suggestions to implement as alternatives to price decreases:

Bundle – offer a discount on a group of services.

Volume discounts – offering a discount for volume purchases does not damage your profitability.

Unbundle – give your clients the option to pick and choose the services they require and are willing to purchase.

Payment plans – offering better payment terms can be a great way to win business without cutting prices.

Prepayment discount – if your customer has the cash to pay upfront, offer a 10% discount on your services.

Increase your value – instead of cutting fees, find ways to deliver higher value services.

Throw in a little extra – give your clients a few “surprise” freebies to enhance your value and differentiate your services.