HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	277
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE HAWAII STATE CENTER FOR NURSING TO ENCOURAGE PARTIES TO WORK TOGETHER FOR THE COMMON GOAL OF INCREASING THE SUPPLY OF WELL-EDUCATED AND DEDICATED NURSES.

     WHEREAS, the mission of the Hawaii State Center for Nursing is to ensure that the State of Hawaii has the nursing resources necessary to meet the health care needs of its people; and

     WHEREAS, in 2007, the Center focused on activities that included a supply survey, an updated fact sheet on Hawaii's nursing shortage, an annual educational capacity report on the educational capacity of one hundred per cent of the schools of nursing in Hawaii, the recruitment and retention of nurses in the long term care setting, and a longitudinal study of retention and turnover among newly graduated registered nurses; and

     WHEREAS, other activities of the Center in 2007 included a nurse leadership training program, active participation as a member of the Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers, updating the Center's strategic plan, development of a new graduate nurse internship program, and a nursing workforce summit; and

     WHEREAS, the Center projects that between 2006 and 2020, the demand for registered nurses in Hawaii is expected to grow by twenty-eight per cent, while the supply of registered nurses is expected to grow by only nine per cent, resulting in a relative shortfall in demand, which will increase from about eleven per cent to twenty-four per cent; and

     WHEREAS, the shortage is expected to be most acutely felt in nursing specialty areas; and

     WHEREAS, the Center points out that one of the prominent factors in the widening gap between the supply and demand of Hawaii's registered nurses over the next fifteen years will be the increase in the retirement by nurses over fifty years of age; and

     WHEREAS, the nursing shortage can only be eliminated through the collaborative and strategic efforts of providers, educators, policy makers, consumers, and labor officials, who must be able to recognize the complexity of bringing the workforce back into equilibrium as against the risk of inaction; and

     WHEREAS, investments made today will not only benefit Hawaii over the next twenty years, but will begin to nurture a proactive culture that will sustain a robust, qualified nursing workforce to meet Hawaii's health care needs into the future; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, the Senate concurring, that the Hawaii State Center for Nursing is encouraged to ensure that all relevant stakeholders in the health of the nursing industry, including nurses, the Legislature, the University of Hawaii, and health care facilities in the State, participate and work together for the common goal of increasing Hawaii's supply of well-educated and dedicated nursing professionals; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Executive Director of the Hawaii State Center for Nursing, the Dean of the University of Hawaii at Manoa School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene, the Vice President of the University of Hawaii Community Colleges, the Chairperson of the Board of Nursing, the Executive Director of the Hawaii Government Employees Association, the Interim Dean of Hawaii Pacific University's School of Nursing, the President of the Hawaii Nurses Association, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Healthcare Association of Hawaii, the Executive Director of the Hawaii Medical Association, and the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii; provided

that the Vice President of the University of Hawaii Community Colleges is requested to distribute copies of this Concurrent Resolution to the heads of the nursing programs at Leeward Community College, Kapiolani Community College, Kauai Community College, Maui Community College, and Hawaii Community College.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Center for Nursing; Supply