HARRISBURG — Governor Edward G. Rendell today announced the details of $41 million of investments — $10  million in the Governor’s proposed budget and $31 million from PHEAA — to help remedy the commonwealth’s nursing shortage.

 

Speaking at the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses & Allied Professionals’ annual convention, Governor Rendell said his $10 million budget request on top of a $31 million agreement he reached with Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency Foundation would alleviate the nursing shortage by providing incentives for hospitals to lend qualified faculty to nursing programs that can expand their class size this academic year.  It would also provide for the expansion of clinical education opportunities necessary for nursing education and provide planning grants to expanding nursing programs. 

 

“We’re not short of Pennsylvanians who want to become nurses, but we are short the capacity needed to train them,” Governor Rendell said. “Together, the $10 million investment proposed in my 2006-07 budget along with the $31 million commitment from PHEAA and other state-funded nursing-shortage initiatives will make sure we have enough nurses to continue providing the quality health care Pennsylvanians deserve.”

 

During the event, Governor Rendell also released the findings of two nursing-shortage studies completed by the PA Center for Health Careers that project the shortage of Registered Nurses (RNs) could reach 16,100 by 2010; the shortage of Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) could reach 4,100 in four years.

 

Created by Governor Rendell in 2004, the Center conducted extensive, statewide research that determined the extent of Pennsylvania’s shortage of nurses, nurse educators and training sites. Reports released today detail the projected effects of the shortage on the commonwealth both now and in the future.

 

For more information on the nursing shortage or the PA Center for Health Careers’ RN and LPN reports, visit www.paworkforce.state.pa.us.