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Changing the Future of Healthcare, One Classroom At a Time

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, our nation's nurse workforce is aging: More than half of all registered nurses are older than age 45, which means that in the next few years, a considerable number of RNs are going to retire. What can be done to lessen the impact this exodus will have on a healthcare system in which nurses already are in short supply? Many industry organizations have devised a proactive solution: They are reaching out to school children.

Why look to school-aged kids for help? Because today's students are tomorrow's caregivers. That's the idea behind smart new recruitment programs from corporations like Johnson & Johnson and non-profit industry groups like the Wisconsin Hospital Association (WHA).

"We are looking at it from a long-term perspective of facing an aging nursing population," says Mary Kay Grasmick, vice president of communications of the WHA. "We're starting now. There's a lot of competition for talented, caring people, and we want to make sure we catch their attention early."

The WHA has partnered with the Wisconsin Student Nurses Association (WSNA) to create "Touched by a Nurse," an ambassador program designed to change the perception of the nursing profession as well as improve the odds of recruitment over time. As part of the program, student nurses speak at local elementary schools, middle schools, or high schools, delivering their presentations in tandem with an experienced registered nurse, who fields the more involved questions about what it's like to have a career in nursing.

Touched by a Nurse is part of the National Student Nurses' Association's (NSNA) nationwide "Breakthrough to Nursing" program, which is described as a "project to increase the number and diversity of students choosing nursing as a career." Variations on this program are sprouting up across the country, at NSNA chapters and within other professional organizations that seek to help eliminate the nursing shortage.

Why do busy student nurses and working RNs take time out of their already hectic schedules to volunteer for this activity? One reason, says Karissa Ellis, the Breakthrough to Nursing director for the WSNA, is that the presenters themselves ultimately benefit from these sessions. When practicing RNs and student nurses act as advocates and recruiters, they help to ensure reduced patient-to-staff ratios down the road. In short, it gives nurses the opportunity to help control the future of their work environments.

Grasmick adds, "As you talk about your career, sometimes you recognize that you're in something that's even bigger than you."

Ellis agrees. "RNs [who] have been practicing for a while have renewed passion," she says. "They get to hear kids say, 'Wow! You do that?'"

Renewing that passion is the primary purpose of the ambassador program developed by the Coalition of Nursing Careers in California (CNCC), although it was originally created as a retention mechanism. On the CNCC's ChooseNursing Web site, nurses can explore the "Ambassador Resource Center," which offers free posters to download, brochures and games, recommendations for hands-on activities, and PowerPoint presentations-geared to three different age groups, and available in both English and Spanish-that nurses can use for group presentations.

"Studies indicate that if people are talking about what they do, it gets them in touch with why they chose a particular profession," says Linda Gregory, RN, director of the CNCC. "If you're able to retain a nurse, that's a recruitment of two, because you are keeping a nurse [as well as recruiting one]." The hope then is that the newly recruited nurse will spread the word about the exciting career he or she has chosen.

"I've [heard] people say, 'Why are you wasting your life [by] only becoming a nurse? Why don't you go all the way [and become a doctor]?'" says the 21-year-old Ellis. "We want to change the perception of what nurses do."

Organizations involved in ambassador programs not only seek to improve the credibility of the nursing profession, but to increase the population of people who will explore the field, especially males and various ethnic groups.

Excitement, diversity, and opportunity are the themes of these programs, as presenting nurses address the interests of the varying age groups. Ellis notes that younger children don't have defined gender stereotypes so both boys and girls are interested in the presentations. They get excited by seeing the things nurses do. For instance, hands-on activities may include taking someone's temperature, checking the pulse, and checking blood pressure. Older students' interests lean toward how much money they can make as a nurse, and the career opportunities that exist for nurses.

The North Carolina-based Colleagues in Caring Web site, as part of their "Talk With Kids about Nursing" campaign, offers such presentation materials as free printable business cards, coloring sheets and brochures, and free Nursing Exploration Patches that can be given to groups or scout troops upon completion of certain activities.

Ellis hopes schools will follow through after classroom presentations by arranging field trips to local hospitals so kids can see first-hand the environment in which nurses work. Some organizations add an on-the-job component to their recruitment efforts for that very reason. For instance, the Texas Nurses Association (TNA), in addition to classroom visits and puppet show programs, runs a "Shadow a Nurse" program through Texas Area Health Education Centers (AHECs), in which working RNs allow potential future nurses to follow them on the job.

National health-related government agencies and healthcare-related corporations have developed similar recruitment and image programs. Johnson & Johnson's Campaign for Nursing's Future, launched early last year, is designed "to bring more people into nursing, develop more nurse educators, and retain the talent already in the profession." It airs inspirational public service announcements on national television. In addition, the company developed an in-depth nursing careers Web site called DiscoverNursing.com, which offers a thorough database of nursing schools and scholarships, inspirational profiles of people currently working in the field, and an area where educators and nurses can order free videos, posters, and hand-outs for use in classrooms.

The Bureau of Health Professionals, which is part of the Department of Health and Human Resources, has launched a Kids Into Health Careers initiative, which offers grants to local organizations for outreach to parents, guidance counselors, and students. The Bureau's Web site contains written outlines of sample presentations for different audiences on the importance and variety of healthcare careers.

What's the basic theory behind these ambassador programs? Simple: Nurses themselves are the best tool the industry has to develop new recruits. "There are variables that need to be addressed," admits Gregory, "but I'm confident that programs like ours are going to be very beneficial in addressing the workforce shortage."

Ultimately, it's up the current population of nurses-and their future colleagues in classrooms across the country-to ensure the continuation of quality healthcare in America.