National Network of Health Career Programs in Two-Year Colleges Caring for the Future: Recruiting and Retaining Health Care Educators American Association

National Network of Health Career Programs in Two-Year Colleges

Caring for the Future: Recruiting and Retaining Health Care Educators

American Association for Community Colleges

Annual Conference

Long Beach, California

April 24, 2006


Panel of Presenters

Pat Harris, RN, MS District Director of Health Care Education Maricopa Community College District

Barbara R. Jones, PhD, Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs Louisiana Delta Community College, Monroe, LA

Janell, Lang, EdS Dean, Health Technologies Division Owens Community College, Toledo, OH


Presentation Overview

Community Colleges face challenges in attracting nursing and allied health faculty and administrators. Recruitment and retention strategies will be presented.


Goals

To identify challenges to health care faculty recruitment and retention

To present health care faculty recruitment and retention strategies

To review opportunities for collaboration in recruitment and retention of health care faculty


Oh, the Challenges We Face

Pat Harris, RN, MS

District Director, Health Care Education

Maricopa Community Colleges


One minute foundation:“Just the Facts, Ma’am”

There’s a significant, long lasting shortage out there.

Thousands of qualified applicants are turned away each year from healthcare professional educational programs because of capacity issues.

Funding for program operations and student scholarships are more available in the past, but often times there is a lack of human capital to secure funding.


More Brief Facts

Professional program accreditation establishes faculty requirements, resource allocation guidelines

State or Federal regulatory agencies set requirements for faculty qualifications and staffing ratios, particularly in clinical settings

Health programs are particularly demanding on faculty (clinical load)

Health professionals are not as diverse as general population


Three Legged Stool of Healthcare Education

Faculty Shortage in workers, shortage in faculty,

sometimes shortage in flexibility Aging population, eagerly anticipating

retirement Brain drain—salaries, benefit packages

Funding Lesser issue than before, but still looms

Facilities Clinical space


Data Dearth

Nursing has a plethora of data. Forecasting is challenging, but can be done.

Allied Health is like a 1,000 piece puzzle. It is assumed that all the pieces will go together, but it’s challenging finding sufficient information on the big picture.

Some States have excellent data, others do not. Given the assumption that many models build upon State data, much is lost.


What data do we have?

Health and Human Services, The Registered Nurse Population: National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses, March 2004

Bureau of Labor Statistics Various organizations Fact Sheets: AACC,

National League for Nursing, professional organizations and regulatory boards

State workforce organization data


Nursing FacultyMarch 2004 National Sample of RNs 40% of current nursing faculty teach in

associate degree programs Average Age is 46.8 years; doctoral prepared

faculty average age is 55.7 Age breakout of current faculty:

Highest group is 21% 50-54 years 30% are over 55 years 20% are under 40


Nursing Faculty

Fewer graduate nursing students are choosing to be educators. Practitioner salaries are more enticing—and physician shortages are increasing opportunity for advance practitioners.

Some Universities adding post-masters certificate in Education, more needed

Small percentage (<10%) of nurses and allied health professionals hold Masters degree or higher


Allied Health Faculty According to Fact Sheet issued in March

2003 by the Association of Academic Health Centers, allied health professions account for approximately 50 % of total US health workforce.

In this context, faculty shortages are among the highest of all health professions and are projected to increase.


Allied Health Faculty Vacancies Association of Academic Health Centers

Current HIM—15.4% Dietetics—15.4% Radiation Therapy—

12.5% CV Perfusion Tech—

10.7% Dental Hygiene—9.5%

Within 5 years HIM—30.8% Dietetics—28.2% Radiation Therapy—

18.8% CV Perfusion Tech—

28.6% Dental Hygiene—19%


Regional Influences

Direct influence on shortages, although the issues are national, on the most part

Urban versus rural settings. Easier to recruit health practitioners from urban medical centers than from rural facilities. Recruit young practitioners to be part-time or adjunct, develop for full time faculty.

Competitive programs—private colleges, career schools, and universities


Bottom Line Logic

In Allied Health, the number of full time faculty is sufficiently modest, so that vacancy rates are irrelevant to the situation: if you have one vacancy, you have a major problem.

In most cases, your faculty are being compensated well below market value. The satisfaction of educating others is not a selling point sufficient to match $20 K salary differences.

Nine month contracts are mixed blessings.


STRATEGIESRecruiting and Retaining

Health Care Educators

Janell Lang, Ed.S.

Dean, School of Health Sciences

Owens Community College

Toledo & Findlay, Ohio


The “Tipping Point”

The point at which a crisis can become a disaster

One million nursing positions will be open by 2012 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

As great a need exists in the Allied Health Professions

What remains hidden is the lack of qualified faculty to teach our students


The Test for Community Colleges:

How do we recruit and retain qualified nursing and allied health faculty while not breaking the bank?


Special Challenges

Qualified Faculty Shortages Escalating Workforce Retirement Faculty Demanding Higher Salaries Difficulty Recruiting High Attrition Rates Inadequate Resources Little On-the-Job Training Lack of Recognition & Appreciation Higher Workloads & Industry Demand


Some Solutions

A Competitive Labor Driven Market Effective Orientation Programs for New Full and Part

Time Faculty Resource Guides Professional Development Tuition Reimbursement Plans Ability to Maintain Currency in Clinical Area of

Practice Autonomy/Independence


More Solutions

A Mentorship Program Optimizes Dwindling Resources Utilizes Limited Faculty/Staff Shortens Learning Curves Supports Career Development Seeds Faculty Leadership Sets Higher Standards of Practice Increases Confidence & Skills


Benefits of A Mentorship Program

Optimizes Shared Learning Experiences Provides Networking Strengthens Leadership Skills Fosters Support Improves Teamwork Increases Job Satisfaction Retains Experienced Faculty Supports Classroom/Laboratory/Clinical

Learning


Finally

“Growing Our Own”

Foster a sense of commitment in our current students to return to their roots and give back to the learning communities in which they prospered.


COLLABORATION Recruiting and Retaining

Health Care Educators

Barbara Jones, PhDInterim Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs

Louisiana Delta Community CollegeMonroe, LA

[email protected]


Possible Solutions

Endowments for faculty positions Grants Funding Job sharing Recruitment Flexible scheduling to supplement income Benefits: time off, tuition waivers, flexible

schedules, sabbaticals Collaborations


Why Collaboration?

Limited financial resources Limited physical resources

(i.e., space, equipment, technology)

Limited faculty Accreditation/regulations Limited availability of

expertise, established programs, and resources

Need for strong community/cooperative relationships


Institutional Partnerships and Collaborations

Employee/faculty sharing Sharing of Classroom and Clinical space Student tuition stipends or reimbursements Equipment sharing Grants for program development Funds for faculty salary or program support Endowments Continuing education


Collaborations

Develop collaborations at the institutional, local, state, and federal level to: Increase funding/off-set costs Increase supply of students in the health

career education “pipeline” – grow your own Participate in development and best practices

research Increase and improvement of health care

delivery to meet community needs


Collaborations - Local

Medical facilities - institutions Faculty sharing Classroom/clinical space Distance learning Funding for faculty and program development/expansion Stipends for students – future employees Tuition reimbursement for current employees – job

advancement Endowments for faculty

Equipment Donations Medical facilities Vendors

Local AHEC Recruitment


Collaborations - State

Higher Education: Institution - institution Distance Learning – sharing of experienced

faculty Remote site programs

Incumbent Worker Training Programs Health Care Workforce Boards


Collaborations - Federal

National Health Systems (i.e., HCA) Workforce Investment HRSA - Allied Health Project Grants Nursing Reinvestment Act Proposed Allied Health Reinvestment Act

(faculty loan program)


Questions and Answers?


Contact information

Pat Harris, RN, MS [email protected]

Barbara R. Jones, PhD, [email protected]

Janell Lang, EdS [email protected]


Caring for the Future: Recruiting and Retaining Health Care Educators

American Association for Community Colleges

Annual Conference

Long Beach, California

April 24, 2006

Documents

National Network of Health Career Programs in Two-Year Colleges Caring for the Future: Recruiting and Retaining Health Care Educators American Association