Editorial: Nursing shortage not easing

Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2002 | 8:52 a.m.

Nevada has the worst nurse-to-patient ratio in the United States -- and the situation promises to deteriorate, not get better. New regulations in California will require improved nurse-to-patient ratios, which means that more nurses will be needed. That likely will result in California hospitals and medical care providers raiding similar facilities here, hiring nurses away with the guarantee of better pay and improved working conditions. Meanwhile, five new hospitals are slated to be built in the Las Vegas Valley, creating an even greater strain on the ranks of understaffed nurses. Richard Schlegel, executive director of the Nevada Nurses Association, said the nursing shortage is reaching crisis dimensions in Nevada just as it is elsewhere in the United States. "Nurses are already pulling extended shifts just to keep the floors staffed," Schlegel said. "At the current staffing levels, not even looking at hospital expansion, we're already facing a very serious situation."

There is no magic wand that can be waved to immediately get more nurses in Nevada. The nursing shortage is due to a variety of reasons. At one time, nursing predominantly was a profession that women entered while men became physicians. That no longer is the case as a great number of women now have become physicians, but not enough men have chosen nursing, resulting in a smaller pool of nurses nationwide. The lack of available nurses poses an even greater problem in a fast-growing state such as ours.

If we're going to lure more men and women to the field of nursing, pay will have to go up considerably so that people actually will consider the profession if they're contemplating a career in medicine. It's not just more pay, though, that's required. The working conditions need to improve so that a nurse isn't handling a workload that really should be performed by two nurses, possibly three. The new state college in Henderson will have a nursing program, but the college doesn't have a campus yet; fall classes will be held at five high schools around the valley. Even if the nursing program turns out to be successful in the long run, this will only ease Nevada's nursing shortage if there are incentives for the graduates to remain in the state.

None of the ideas we've mentioned are revolutionary -- they're just common sense. Just as is the case with teachers, the solution is having the will to pay people better and improve their working conditions. If medical providers don't take immediate, substantive steps to lure nurses here, then the quality of medical care will continue to suffer as well. At some point, the Nevada Legislature may feel compelled to impose minimum staffing requirements so that hospitals maintain adequate nursing care.