Appropriates funds to Leeward community college to support a nursing program.

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that to meet the growing need for nurses on the island of Oahu, it is essential to expand the state’s capacity for developing and providing qualified nurses through an expansion of nursing programs.

Currently, Kapiolani community college possesses an excellent nursing program for preparing registered nurses (RN). This program provides a flexible, accelerated curriculum that is less costly than its baccalaureate counterpart.

However, the existing capacity of the University of Hawaii system for providing qualified nurses remains below the projected need for the island of Oahu. The capacity is also concentrated in southeast Oahu, leaving the leeward side of the island severely underserved.

The leeward community, however, is expanding at an astounding rate, and with this population boom comes an abundance of talented and skilled workers who are in need of quality and affordable career-training nursing programs that are challenging and offer real, solid opportunities upon successful completion of training. A nursing program within the leeward community would assist in stimulating and raising the economic status of, not just the individual student, but of the entire community as a focal point of educational opportunity in this developing community.

In 2004, the department of education’s senior exit survey revealed that forty-four per cent of the graduating high school seniors who were interested in pursuing a career in nursing or dental hygiene were located in the leeward region of Oahu. To acquire such a degree, these students currently must travel to southeast Oahu. It is time to tap this intellectual resource and respond rapidly to the need for quality training while presenting a viable means of addressing our current nursing shortage.

The coordination of a partnership in which Leeward community college and Kapiolani community college would collaborate in expanding Kapiolani community college's associate degree in nursing program to the leeward side by using the Leeward community college campus, which is optimally located, would create a system that will increase and improve the island’s capacity for producing nurses. This initiative would also meet the needs of the leeward community which is also experiencing an increase in the number of hospitals, clinics, health centers, and the largest concentration of residential care home facilities on Oahu. This represents not only the supply, but also the demand concentrated in the same area waiting for such a program.

While the development of nursing programs are complex, requiring board of regents approval, board of nursing approval, and usually a National League of Nursing accreditation, a partnership between Kapiolani community college and Leeward community college would develop a new program through this intricate process. Therefore, the importance of a cooperative effort between Kapiolani community college and Leeward community college is essential to the effort of providing a program that is superior in quality and capability to existing programs.

Although the Leeward community college nursing program would employ Kapiolani community college’s curriculum initially for a rapid response to community needs, the long-term objective would be for Leeward community college to develop a more community-based RN program to continue to complement Kapiolani community college's program and meet the growing need for RNs on Oahu by expanding upon the University of Hawaii’s capacity for producing nurses.

An exciting and real outcome of such a collaborative effort at the community college level will be the self-supporting outcome of this project as the projected increase in qualified RNs would inevitably increase the number of qualified applicants entering into the University of Hawaii's graduate program that will raise the quality of our nursing workforce and supply our state with nursing instructors that we sorely need.

The purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds to support the coordination and collaboration between Kapiolani community college and Leeward community college to establish a quality registered nursing program located at Pearl City's Leeward community college campus on Oahu.

SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $1,300,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006-2007 for the following expenses relating to the University of Hawaii's Leeward community college associate degree in nursing program:

The sum appropriated shall be expended by the University of Hawaii's Leeward community college for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2006.