The history of modern-day nursing dates back a few centuries, when compassionate
nuns and other volunteers courageously cared for wounded soldiers with little thought
about their own health and safety.
Florence Nightingale, the founder of the nursing profession, left England in 1854
to care for injured soldiers during the Crimean War. Making her rounds each night
to check on every soldier, she became known as the “Lady with the Lamp.”
She also founded the first nursing school dedicated to increasing the skills of
the nursing profession.
Over the years, nurses have witnessed many changes, including better working conditions,
higher salaries, and innovative patient care via state-of-the-art technology. What
hasn’t changed is the commitment of nurses and allied health care professionals
to relieve human suffering, improve the quality of patient care, and participate
in advanced learning opportunities.
Like the rest of the nation, Hawai‘i anticipates a worsening of the registered
nurse shortage over the next decade. It’s estimated that the state currently
needs an additional 2,267 registered nurses. The Hawai‘i State Center for
Nursing reports that 50 percent to 65 percent of the state’s 17,267 active
registered nurses intend to retire and leave the profession during that time period.
The nursing shortage will increase exponentially as our population grows older.
The problem: Baby boomers are getting older and will require more care than ever,
taxing an already over-burdened nursing system.
Hawai‘i’s eight nursing education programs are desperately short of
instructors, thus limiting the capacity of the schools to admit students. (Over
the last few years, nearly 30 percent of qualified applicants have been turned away
from Hawai‘i nursing schools.) “You can’t talk about the nursing
shortage without talking about the nursing faculty shortage,” says Randy Caine,
dean of nursing at Hawai‘i Pacific University. “It’s difficult
to recruit and retain nursing instructors when they can usually make more money
working in a hospital than in academia.”
In January, four local health care leaders donated $1.05 million to upgrade the
University of Hawai‘i nursing simulation laboratory on the Manoa campus. The
HMSA Foundation donated $500,000 to help
improve the center as a valuable learning tool for health care professionals throughout
the Islands and to link existing statewide simulation labs of hospitals and the
UH Statewide Nursing Consortium.
Using high-speed technology, the center will increase nurses’ ability to ensure
patient safety, build technical skills, and develop decision-making abilities.
“Nurses are the primary providers of hospital patient care and deliver most
of the nation’s long-term and community-based care,”says Mary Boland,
dean of the UH Manoa School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene. “We will collaborate
with the leading Hawai‘i health care organizations to create this first-of-its-kind
center to ensure patient safety and quality care delivery through technology-driven
education.”
The center will be equipped with human patient simulators, bedside computers, digitalized
video recording capacity, and interactive instructional software. It will feature
realistic practice settings, including a medical-surgical hospital unit, a critical
care and surgical/operating suite, a pediatric neonatal nursery, and maternity,
ambulatory and home care environments.
The center is designed to teach basic and advanced medical procedures to nurses
who work in a variety of health care centers to help ensure continuity in the practice
and standards of professional nurses. To survive in the long-term, Hawai‘i’s
health care system must be sustainable, according to Robert P. Hiam, HMSA president
and chief executive officer. “Our donation to the UH’s simulation lab
will help it develop technology-based solutions that facilitate the development
of a statewide sustainable system.”