Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Higher Education and Health, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 4 entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to urge the University of Hawaii to fully fund all of its nursing programs.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this concurrent resolution from the University of Hawaii and Healthcare Association of Hawaii.

Your Committees find that there is currently a severe shortage of nurses in Hawaii and across the nation, which jeopardizes the quality of health care provided in hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, clinics and other health care settings. Your Committees further find that the number of graduates from nurse education institutions in Hawaii is insufficient to meet the demand for qualified nurses. As a result, "traveling nurses" are being recruited from outside Hawaii to meet this demand; however, the cost of hiring these nurses exceeds the cost of hiring nurses who reside in Hawaii.

A solution to the nurse shortage is for Hawaii's nurse education institutions to prepare a sufficient number of nursing graduates to satisfy the increasing demand for nurses. A number of qualified applicants to the University of Hawaii's nursing programs are turned away because of funding limitations that restrict the number of faculty hired, which in turn limits the number of students who can be enrolled in the nursing programs.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Higher Education and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 4 and recommend that it be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.