Published: 4/18/2022 6:24:47 PM
Modified: 4/18/2022 6:23:29 PM
The state is funneling millions of dollars into expanding licensed practical nurse training programs as the shortage of healthcare workers intensifies.
The Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee voted last week to double the community college LPN training program, using $2.6 million of American Rescue Plan Act dollars. The investment was made in hopes of beefing up the workforce pipeline to meet demand in hospitals and long-term care facilities.
"To make investments into our economy, we must make necessary investments into our workforce – and doubling our LPN nursing program is the right move," Gov. Chris Sununu said in a statement.
Licensed practical nurses are employed by most healthcare facilities to record patients’ vitals, give medications, feed and bathe patients, among other things.
The community college LPN training program debuted in 2020 at River Valley Community College in Claremont and then expanded to Laconia and Littleton.
The one-year program allows students to immediately enter into the nursing workforce and also gives graduates the opportunity to continue their education and progress to the registered nurse level, which could also help mitigate a shortage there.
New Hampshire, like many states, has struggled with a worsening shortage of nurses. Between June 2019 and May 2020, 2,381 nursing assistants allowed their licenses to lapse, while 1,672 new licenses were issued, ultimately creating a net loss of 709 LNAs.
About one in five health care workers have left their jobs since the start of the pandemic nationwide.
“What we see happening at the tail end of the surge is the buildup of a backlog of critically important non-COVID care that needs to be met,” said Concord Hospital CEO Robert Steigmeyer. “The ramping up of non-COVID care in a significant way is challenging for all of us from a workforce perspective.”
Brendan Williams, the president and CEO of N.H. Health Care Association, said nursing homes and hospitals — desperate from a shortage of licensed nurses — all clamor for the same few medical staff who parachute in from faraway states to fill empty shifts.
Increased demand drives up the price charged by travel nurse agencies until the nurses’ hourly rates are triple or quadruple what a facility would pay their regular staff.
In order to maintain federally required staff-to-resident ratios, nursing homes often rely on temporary nurses to fill their shifts. Advocates say staffing agencies have seized on a moment of desperation and raised prices exponentially over the last several months. Facilities are forced to pay hefty prices, even if that means they can no longer afford to care for as many residents.
Other nurse training programs have similarly expanded in recent years to meet high demand.
In February, Concord Hospital announced a partnership with New England College that allowed nursing students to be hired during their training. College and hospital administrators said the program gave students valuable clinical experience and relieved hospital employees who have worked through several waves of COVID-19.
The N.H. Board of Nursing also passed an emergency rule aimed at streamlining a portion of the licensing process for certain health care workers in 2021.