THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

53

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002

  

STATE OF HAWAII

  
   

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

requesting the establishment of a panel to study and make recommendations on workforce issues related to the nursing profession.

 

WHEREAS, the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicates that registered nurses, as the largest healthcare occupation, held approximately 2.2 million jobs in the year 2000, with three out of five of these jobs located in hospitals and clinics; and

WHEREAS, the BLS estimates that registered nurses are among those occupations with the largest job growth, projecting an increase of 25 percent in this decade; and

WHEREAS, increases in demands for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses in nursing homes and home healthcare are expected to grow between twenty-one to thirty-five percent; and

WHEREAS, many states report current and projected shortages of registered nurses, primarily due to an aging workforce and recent declines in nursing school enrollments; and

WHEREAS, information received from a public employee union indicates that the average age of employed nurses is approximately 45 years of age, with only 10 percent of employed nurses under the age of 30; and

WHEREAS, this projected shortage of nurses within our nation will have an adverse impact in Hawaii, due to the difficulty it presents in competing with other states for nurses; and

WHEREAS, recruitment, retention, and utilization issues related to this critical workforce must be addressed in a systematic and comprehensive manner; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-First Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2002, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs is requested to convene a Panel on Nursing Workforce Issues; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Panel comprise eleven members to be appointed by the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs as follows:

(1) Three members who are nurses practicing in direct care;

(2) Three members representing consumers of healthcare services;

(3) Three members representing the healthcare industry; and

(4) Two members representing nursing education programs and nursing employment organizations, respectively;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs shall act as the facilitator of the Panel, and provide staff support as necessary to the Panel; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Panel study and report on the following nursing workforce issues:

(1) Current national and Hawaii data on nursing workforce shortages, and the primary causes and effects of such shortage;

(2) Current national and Hawaii data on recruitment and retention efforts in Hawaii;

(3) Current national and Hawaii data on nursing student enrollments in the spectrum of nursing programs;

(4) How the representative entities, including the State of Hawaii can contribute to and lend support for increasing the quality and quantity of our nursing workforce; and

(5) The feasibility of establishing a center for nursing in Hawaii, similar to centers in other states, to address nursing workforce issues;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a report of the Panel's findings and recommendations shall be submitted to the Governor and to the Legislature twenty days prior to the convening of the 2003 Legislature; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, the University of Hawaii, Hawaii Nurses' Association, Hawaii Government Employees' Association, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, and the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii.

 

 
 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Establishes Panel on Nursing Workforce Issues; 2003 Report