Illinois is experiencing a critical shortage of nurses and pharmacists in some regions of the state and experts believe that unless colleges create and expand programs, the situation will get worse before it gets better.
The main factors contributing to the nurse shortage are a lack of qualified nurse educators, and the current aging nurse workforce.
The pharmacist shortage, which is more complex, is caused by a scarcity of colleges that offer pharmacist programs, and a rise in the number of prescriptions.
And the aging U.S. population exacerbates both situations.
Majorie Maurer, vice-president and chief nurse executive at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, said that it’s taking much longer to fill certain nurse positions than it used to.
“We used to fill them in a couple weeks,” she said. “Now it’s taking a couple of months.”
Maurer said that by 2011, more nurses will be leaving the workforce than entering.
“We are already way behind the eight ball on this,” Maurer said. “The population is increasing and it’s aging. Because of the shortage of nurse educators in 2004, 33,000 qualified applicants to college nursing programs had to be turned away nationwide.”
Maurer believes that the stagnation in nursing education is due to the relatively poor salaries paid to nurse educators.
“The deans of nursing programs make less than the deans of other programs,” she said. “And that makes it unattractive for people to want to teach.”
According to state statistics, the shortage in nurses is expected to reach 21,000 by 2020. Because of this, Gov. Rod Blagojevich introduced a plan earlier this year to increase nursing program faculty, increase the number of students in nursing programs, and improve working conditions for existing nurses.
“As the baby boomers grow older, Illinois faces the challenge of providing for their growing demands on the healthcare systems while also making up for the retirement of a generation of nurses,” he said. “We have to find ways to fill the nursing shortage, and this new legislation will help us get there.”
Tom Renkes, executive director of the Illinois Nurses Association, said that the current shortage of acute care nurses in Illinois ranges from 2 percent to 15 percent, depending on the hospital.
He also believes that part of the problem is the increasing number of nurses that are middle-aged and older.
“The interesting thing is that there are enough nurses licensed,” he said. “It’s just a matter of age and who wants to work in different settings. The aging workforce doesn’t want to work the long hours.”
The pharmacist shortage is a little trickier.
Experts agree that there is currently a need for pharmacists. But because of new technology on the horizon, they aren’t sure if the need will persist. What they do know is that there is a shortage of minority pharmacists.
Right now there are only two pharmacy education programs in the Chicago area; Chicago State University plans to inaugurate the third in September 2008.
Dr. David Slatkin, dean of the CSU College of Pharmacy, said that the Walgreen Company will contribute $1 million to the program over the next five years.
“There is a real need for minority pharmacists,” Slatkin said. “Studies show that minority caregivers tend to provide better healthcare to other minorities. Right now there is not enough opportunity for students to go to pharmacy schools.”
According to Slatkin, only one in 10 applicants is admitted into the pharmacy programs at Midwestern University in Downers Grove and the University of Illinois at Chicago.
But even when the CSU program is at full capacity, Slatkin expects it will only have room for 100 students.
Michael Patton, executive director of the Illinois Pharmacists Association, acknowledged the shortage, but said that the implementation of new technology may reduce the need for pharmacists.
“What I’m concerned about is the proliferation of new technologies, such as computerized systems and robotics, that will have a significant impact on the need for pharmacists and the quality of care they provide,” he said.
“Technology has a consequence in individualized patient care. It diminishes some of the personal aspect and I’m concerned about some of the technology models that are on the table.”
Patton said that the technology has already been developed to further computerize pharmacies, but that it is not yet being utilized.
“Nobody knows for sure what the future holds,” he said.
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