In an effort to stem an impending nursing shortage termed potentially “disastrous” in testimony yesterday, state lawmakers are considering a program to repay the student loans of nurses who remain in the Bay State.
The bill, sponsored by State Sen. Richard Moore (D-Worcester), would establish the Clara Barton Nursing Excellence Program to repay the student loans of nurses who worked in the state after finishing their education.
The program would also supply signing bonuses to promising prospective nurses. Additional funds would support a mentoring program matching master nurses with newcomers. In return for the tutelage, the educational expenses of the master nurses would be reimbursed.
The incentives are necessary to remedy the dearth of nurses in the Commonwealth, a situation most witnesses before the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Education, Arts and Humanities said could be widespread within 10 years.
“If we do not find ways to attract nurses … the health care industry would collapse at some point,” Moore said.
State Sen. Harriette Chandler (D-Worcester) said the nursing shortage is one of the biggest problems facing the state.
“There is no problem more acute these days,” she said. “We so seriously need nurses.”
Chandler said she and her fellow legislators “hope to encourage the best and the brightest to go into nursing.”
James Reinertsen, the CEO of CareGroup, said nurses must be attracted to the profession through incentives in order to rectify the situation. The only way to retain nurses is to make their working environment favorable, he added.
By 2010, one in five nursing positions in Massachusetts will be unfilled, he projected.
“Our world-renowned hospitals in Massachusetts are facing a new threat,” he said. “It’s time we started caring for our nurses.”
Nancy Kruger, vice president of Patient Care Services at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said the average age of nurses at her hospital is 42. Many are expected to retire in the next decade.
Denise Garlick, president of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, said current conditions in nursing, including mandatory overtime, have and will lead to strikes unless a permanent solution to the shortage is found.
“The solution must be effective and it must be sustainable,” she said.
The committee also heard testimony on a bill that would authorize $10 million to build an science building at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a biomedical research facility at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.
The bill, sponsored by Gov. Paul Cellucci, would bring about greater interaction between UMass-Amherst students and biomedical researchers, supporters maintain.
The bill would improve the economy of Western Massachusetts, according to Springfield Mayor Michael Albano, who testified before the committee.
“Because of … state aid we have received, we are in a comeback stage. The renaissance of the city continues,” he said. “This is an extremely important bill as we move ahead.”
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