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Sister Mary Ann Klein, OP Nursing Endowment Fund |
IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME:COLLABORATING TO SOLVE THE NURSING SHORTAGE IN RURAL CENTRAL KANSAS
By Christy L. Tustin, – Executive Director, Golden Belt Community Foundation Darnell Holopirek, - Executive Director for Institutional Advancement, Barton County Community College Mark Mingenback – Vice President of Professional Services, Central Kansas Medical Center
Imagine . . . a patient is rushed to the local hospital in need of immediate medical attention and there is no nursing staff available to help. There is no one to deliver the necessary acute medical care. This is a frightening scenario to consider in many rural communities across the country. As the nationwide nursing shortage approaches 29% by 2020, efforts to counter its effects must begin immediately at the local level.
“If you build it, they will come” has become an inspiration to the entities in Central Kansas that share a passion for educating, attracting, and maintaining quality health care and nursing professionals. Those dedicated entities are Barton County Community College (BCCC) and Central Kansas Medical Center (CKMC). They share a unique history for maintaining and educating nurses in Central Kansas and now come together with a third entity, the Golden Belt Community Foundation (GBCF), in an unprecedented effort in our community to address the shortage of nurses in rural communities. This collaborative initiative involves the establishment of an endowment fund, which will be named the Sister Mary Ann Klein, OP Nursing Endowment Fund (named for the first Director of Nursing at Barton County Community College), to provide perpetual funding to supplement the Director of Nursing position and/or the Nursing Faculty at Barton County Community College, to bring quality continuing education opportunities to Central Kansas, and to help retain nurses in Central Kansas.
If you build it, they will come . . .
If nursing educators’ salaries increase to become industry competitive, then more nurses will choose education and nursing instructors will come to Central Kansas. The idea is that having the “best and brightest” nursing educators at the top of the nursing program will produce a trickle-down effect, and hopefully produce some of the future’s “best and brightest” nurses. For local and surrounding rural communities it is becoming more and more difficult to recruit and retain qualified nursing professionals. In Kansas the problem is not only with having enough nurses, it is also with having enough educators to teach future nurses. With such strong salaries being paid outside of the field of education, nurses are drawn to those areas of health care offering the greatest economic benefit. In the next 20 years, local admission numbers must, at a minimum, remain the same and, at best, increase to keep up with the level of care that will be needed by the aging population – especially in rural communities. With a strong nursing program and faculty at BCCC, nursing professionals can be educated locally and employed immediately upon graduation in the local community.
If you build it, they will come . . .
If nurses are educated and employed locally, then the quality of care will be increased at CKMC and all of the many medical offices, clinics, and nursing homes in the area. Additionally, retaining local nurses at area hospitals will reduce the need to hire agency or traveling nursing staff – a significant cost savings. Current hospital vacancy rates are 4.9% for registered nurses and 8.5% for practical nurses. In 2005 CKMC successfully recruited 14 recent BCCC graduates to provide patient care. CKMC already has made changes to establish a good working environment for its nursing staff, thus paving the way to retain the nurses it hires.
If you build it, they will come . . .
If key entities in the local community build upon this new collaboration, then the issue of the nursing shortage will be overcome successfully. The GBCF, BCCC, and CKMC began working on the common goal of addressing the nursing shortage in our community over six months ago. During that time an overall goal for this endeavor was set at a minimum of $400,000 and plans currently are being made to request funding assistance from private donations and local and national foundations. Funding will be sought collectively by all three entities, thus showing the local community the level of commitment and collaboration dedicated to this project. A video about the nursing shortage in the local area was created to show potential donors and funding partners. Basically, it is about local people caring for local people and neighbors helping neighbors stay healthy.
So, will there be enough nurses in your community when you need one? |
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Left to Right: Darnell Holopirek, Sister Elizabeth Amman, OP, Mark Mingenback, Sister Mary Ann Klein, OP, and Christy Tustin. |
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1307 Williams, P.O. Box 1911 Great Bend, KS 67530 Phone: (620) 792-3000 Fax: (620) 792-7900 Email: gbcf@goldenbeltcf.org |