With a shortage in nursing and many other fields, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors recently approved an appropriation to help reduce the burden.
At a recent meeting, the board voted unanimously to give $100,000 to Robin Schaeffer Consulting LLC for the New Nurse Graduate Practice Readiness Pilot, or NGN program.
Schaeffer, a nurse with more than 40 years experience, stepped down last year after 10 years as the director of the Arizona Nurses Association.
Supervisor Bill Gates extolled the one-year pilot program and emphasized the need for more training in nursing and other fields.
“I’m really grateful to (Maricopa County) Public Health for working on this,” Gates said. “It’s well-known we have staffing shortages in a lot of careers out there in the county, particularly in nursing, dealing with the pandemic. I think this is a really innovative program. I’m pleased Public Health brought this to us.”
A staff report from MCDPH shows that in April 2021 there were 5,685 registered nurse vacancies in Maricopa County — a 40% increase in the vacancy rate compared with April 2020.
Maricopa County nursing schools graduate more than 1,000 students per year, but nurse leaders continue to report significant job turnover, with new nurses often leaving their first job or the profession permanently within the first two years of graduation.
“Vacancies can be attributed to a convergence of aging and retiring nurses working in hospitals and the community, aging and retiring nursing faculty, an aging population requiring a higher level of nursing care, and most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report states. “Some reported reasons for leaving the profession include emotional exhaustion, understaffing, burnout and moral distress.”
A staff report says the objectives of the NGN pilot program is to increase the practice readiness of the newly graduated nurse through a partnership with schools of nursing and employers, increasing nurse retention, building a pool of nurses ready to hire upon graduation and to protect patient safety.
A contract approved by the board runs through the end of fiscal year 2022, which ends June 30 of next year.
A staff reports says Schaeffer recently organized the Arizona Nurses Rapid Response Team, holding weekly meetings to address nurse-related issues throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The reports says her work eventually led to the adoption of a national model for nurse outreach and support.
“This pilot program will provide the county with a clearer understanding of the deliverables and define service requirements under any potential future procurement after the pilot program has ended,” the report says.
Schaeffer’s small staff will assist Maricopa County with increasing the practice readiness of NGNs by creating and implementing a nursing workforce practice readiness program for senior nursing students, according to the report.
“This model would enhance the partnership between education and practice using nursing faculty and specially trained practice-based nurse preceptors,” the report says. “These preceptors would work one on one with senior nursing students during their last six weeks prior to graduation. Covered costs will include preceptors, nursing faculty, and incentives/grants for nursing students.”
The pilot will include 50 senior nursing students from two or three nursing schools. Five employers of registered nurses will include four hospital settings and one community setting; Maricopa County Correctional Health Services will be one of the selected employers.
If the pilot is successful, Schaeffer’s firm will develop a program to include additional schools of nursing, students, and employers, the report says.
Jason W. Brooks is a News editor for the Daily Independent and the Chandler Independent.
He covers the Chandler area for both yourvalley.net and the monthly print edition while writing for and assisting in the production of the Daily Independent.
Brooks is a well-traveled journalist who has documented life in small American communities in nearly all U.S. time zones.
Born in Washington, D.C. and raised there and in suburban Los Angeles, he has covered community news in California, New Mexico, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska and northern Arizona.
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