NHA Men in Nursing Scholarship
The Nebraska Hospital Association (NHA) created the Nebraska Men in Nursing Calendar as a way to promote the exciting opportunities the nursing field has to offer both women and men, as well as raise funds for nursing scholarships. 

On the application form, the men were asked to describe why they chose a nursing career and what they found rewarding about it. Excerpts from the selected nurses' comments reveal a common thread - these men enjoy the challenge, technical skills, and personal caring that are put to work every day, regardless of their position. To assist male students that are pursuing a career in the nursing field, proceeds from the calendar sales are funding a nursing scholarship offered through the NHA Foundation. The $1,000 scholarship covers tuition and registration fees. For further details click here for the brochure and a scholarship application form.

Community Scholarship Foundation Program
The Community Scholarship Foundation Program is a grant program approved by the Nebraska Legislature in 2003. The Coordinating Commission administers the program for postsecondary education. Through this program, Nebraska will distribute $2,000 matching grants to community foundation organizations that can match it with $2,000 of new money for college scholarships to financially needy students.

The purpose of the program is to help low-income students attend colleges in Nebraska by encouraging Nebraska's community foundations to form college scholarship programs and to raise additional scholarship money for local students. 

For more information on program criteria, the priority for distribution of grants to foundations, and the application process, go to the Workforce Shortage section on the NHA Web site or  click here. According to Ritchie Morrow, Financial Aid Coordinator, non-profit hospitals in Nebraska will be eligible for this program. Please note that the online brochure for the Community Scholarship Foundation Program indicates "May 14, 2004," as the time that all applications must be completed - Mr. Morrow identified this as a misprint - applications are accepted on a continual basis.

"Nurses: Many Roles, One Profession" is the theme for the 2005 National Nurses Week, celebrated May 6-12 each year. Annually, National Nurses Week begins on 
May 6, marked as RN Recognition Day, and ends on May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of nursing as a modern profession. Traditionally, National Nurses Week is devoted to highlighting the diverse ways in which registered nurses are working to improve health care. From bedside nursing in hospitals and long-term care facilities to the halls of research institutions, state legislatures, and Congress, the breadth of the nursing profession is meeting the expanding health care needs. 

In honor of National Nurses Week, Saint Francis Medical Center in Grand Island, NE is planning a spring theme recognition event on Friday, May 6, 2005. Every nurse in the Grand Island facility will receive a gift certificate for two free car washes; homemade pie and punch will be served, and live plants will be provided as door prizes. A video presentation will be shown displaying snapshots of nurses throughout the entire facility. Sherri Hatcher, RN, Clinical Manager at Saint Francis Medical Center, stated: "We value our staff and look for ways to recognize and thank them on an ongoing basis for all they do for us." In order to read more about National Nurses Week and ways to celebrate the special week, please visit the following Web site: http://www.nursingworld.org/pressrel/nnw/nnwrel.htm.  

Senate passes amendment to address nurse visa problem
In a move designed to help address the nation's nursing shortages, the Senate recently agreed to allow more Filipino, Indian, and Chinese registered nurses to work in the U.S. The Senate adopted an amendment to a Department of Defense supplemental appropriations bill that lets the government reclaim half of the assigned visas left unfilled from other countries during the past four years and reassign them to the Philippines, India, and China, which have exceeded their visa quotas. 

Reassigning "50% of the unused [employment-based] visas can help resolve our serious nursing shortage," Hutchison said. The AHA hailed the Senate's move to "re-open the flow of highly-qualified foreign RNs into this country and avoid needlessly exacerbating the nation's critical nursing shortage." 

— AHA NewsNow, April 20, 2005

U.S. Department of Labor publishes final permanent labor certification regulation
The U.S. Department of Labor published a new regulation for the department's Permanent Foreign Labor Certification (PERM) program. The PERM program helps meet workforce needs when there are no available American workers to fill an available job. The Department of Labor is able to process requests to fill vacancies with foreign workers only after employers affirm to the department that no American workers are available.

The department's Employment and Training Administration (ETA) will open two new national processing centers in Chicago and Atlanta to review applications. The new program will accept electronic filing of applications, thereby significantly reducing paperwork and allowing for prompt approval or rejection of requests for labor certification. Electronic filing also will enable the department to conduct automated screening of applications and identify applications for audits.

Once the department issues a permanent labor certification, an employer must then petition the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the State Department to complete the visa approval process. 

The previous system had resulted in a backlog of more than 300,000 applications for labor certification. To address this backlog, the department recently announced the establishment of two temporary Backlog Elimination Centers to expedite processing of these applications. The centers, located in Dallas and Philadelphia, coordinate with state workforce agencies and the Employment and Training Administration's Division of Foreign Labor Certification to address the backlog. For a complete version of the Permanent Labor Certification final rule, please see the December 27, 2004 edition of the Federal Register. 

Shortage of faculty hindering efforts to address nation's nursing shortage
Enrollment in entry-level baccalaureate programs in nursing increased by 14.1% in fall 2004, more than the 10.6% increase anticipated by preliminary data late last year, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing reports. Yet, more than 32,000 qualified applicants were turned away from baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs, primarily due to a shortage of faculty and resources to accommodate more students. "Given the nation's diminishing supply of nurse faculty, it's particularly disturbing to see that almost 3,000 qualified applicants were denied entry into graduate nursing programs last year, said AACN President Jean Bartels. "Efforts to address the faculty shortage will fail unless we can ensure that all qualified nursing students seeking graduate education can be accommodated." The AHA and American Organization of Nurse Executives, an AHA subsidiary, are among a coalition of health care organizations, including AACN, urging congressional budget leaders to adequately fund nursing workforce development programs in their upcoming budget resolutions, citing the critical shortage of nurses that continues to confront the nation. ( AHA NewsNow, March 21, 2005)

Introduced by Senator Price in the Nebraska Legislature, LB 146 would create a nursing faculty student loan program whereby loans for educational expenses could be offered to qualified applicants who are enrolled in a master's- or doctoral-accredited nursing program and intend to engage in nursing instruction in an approved post-secondary educational institution in Nebraska. The NHA testified in support of LB 146.

HR health care recruitment resources
At the request of Nebraska's Educational Services Units, a new section was added to the NHA Web site under Workforce Shortage "Tools for the Classroom." Four selections are now available under this topic: 1) The Kids Career Corner, 2) UNMC Jumpstart, 
3) "Become a Health Care Professional" PowerPoint, and 4) "Careers in Health Care." This section can be found at http://www.nhanet.org/workforce/index.htm.  

The newest addition to the NHA Web site, the "Kids Career Corner," is specifically designed to educate and inspire grade-school children about careers in health care. In addition to educating students about health care career opportunities, visiting someone in the hospital or getting an exam at the doctor's office can be frightening for young children. The "Kids Career Corner" is intended to make children more comfortable in these difficult situations. Any questions or comments regarding the "Kids Career Corner" may be directed to Carly Runestad at crunestad@nhanet.org or (402) 458-4915. We hope that you find this addition to our Web site helpful and thank you for assisting in the ongoing health care workforce recruitment and education efforts.

HR personnel are encouraged to utilize the "Become a Health Care Professional" PowerPoint tool when delivering health care career presentations to junior high or high school students. To view these Web site additions, please follow this link: http://www.nhanet.org/workforce/index.htm.  

NHA 2005 Benefits Survey
Because the new NHA web-based salary survey does not address employee benefits, a benefits survey was developed and distributed in mid-April. The survey was implemented to provide members with critical information related to employer-provided benefit plans in Nebraska's hospitals, such as issues of tuition reimbursement and loan forgiveness, sign-on and referral bonuses, employer-based health coverage, vacancy and turnover rates, and a range of workplace incentives. The survey results will be compiled and returned to participants on or before May 17. If you wish to participate and have not received an electronic link to the survey, please contact Carly Runestad at (402) 458-4915 or crunestad@nhanet.org.  

ISG on Workforce Shortage
On April 5, 2005, the Issue Strategy Group (ISG) for Workforce Shortage Committee met in Lincoln. The purpose of the meeting was to reconvene the committee and to reassess the ISG Work Plan originally developed in 2001. 

One primary suggestion by the ISG attendees was to redesign Joblink. The current Joblink system allows members to post open positions directly on the NHA Web site. This option will continue to be available for those hospitals that do not have a Web address and/or do not have a direct link to an internal employment site. 

To supplement this service, the NHA will place direct links to each hospital's employment/job posting sites on Joblink. This modification will enable potential applicants to access all Nebraska hospitals at one central location. If you have not already emailed your HR Web link to the NHA, please forward this information to Carly Runestad at crunestad@nhanet.org.  Click here to view the NHA Joblink.