Prospects, promise draw students to nursing

Albany Times Union

Number earning RN licenses in region is highest in at least 8 years and is
rising

By CLAIRE HUGHES, Staff writer

Gregory Watson twice lost jobs when his employers closed local plants. The first
time, it was the Sterling Winthrop pharmaceutical research company in the early
1990s; the second time the BASF dye-making plant in Rensselaer, which closed in
2000.

After the second loss, Watson decided he needed a more stable profession.
Earlier this month, the 47-year-old Westerlo resident earned an associate's
degree in nursing from Maria College. He already has a job lined up, working in
St. Peter's Hospital's cardiac critical care unit, beginning next month.
Now he'll be earning his living from what had been an avocation -- emergency
medicine. He had volunteered with his local ambulance service for 25 years as an
emergency medical technician.

"Where I had left off with people before, I'll be picking things up," he said.
A growing number of people statewide -- spurred by dour prospects in other
fields and incentives to lure nurses into the profession -- are pursuing
licenses to become registered nurses. Schools in the area graduated an estimated
381 nurses this year, according to a report by the Center for Health Workforce
Studies, part of the University at Albany's School of Public Health. That's the
highest number of graduates getting their RNs in at least eight years.

"The publicity about nursing shortages -- when you have a recession -- makes a
lot of people think about returning to health care," said the center's director,
Edward Salsberg.

Statewide, the center estimated there would be more than 6,000 nursing graduates
this year, the highest number in four years. At the Samaritan Hospital School of
Nursing in Troy, enrollment is up 138 percent from three years ago, while Albany
Memorial Hospital's nursing school enrollment has grown 74 percent, said Mary
Harknett-Martin, who directs both programs. Hudson Valley Community College in
Troy has filled its nursing program for three years and has been forced to place
applicants on waiting lists, said college spokesman Eric Bryant.

At Excelsior College, an Albany-based institution that offers online programs
nationally, enrollment in associate's degree nursing programs is up 71 percent
this year, to 5,825.

For years, hospitals, nursing homes and home-care agencies have fought against
the image that nurses were overworked and underpaid. Despite feeling that
nursing was her calling, Wendy Laviano, 42, said she put off getting her degree
for years because of such negative perceptions about the profession.
But the labor shortage has forced employers to offer better salaries, benefits
and working conditions -- including flexibility and a choice of shifts. Laviano,
who received her nursing degree this month, said nurses are now getting more
respect.

"They're getting so much more recognition -- I think things have changed
dramatically," said the Troy woman, a mother of three who starts work at Albany
Medical Center Hospital next month.

Jenna Schwenke, 22, and Megan Ryan, 25, are both aides at Albany Med who decided
to take advantage of the hospital's scholarship program to get their RN
licenses. Schwenke graduated from HVCC; Ryan from an online program through
Excelsior College. Both cited flexibility and career options as their reasons
for pursuing their nursing degrees.

"There are so many options that you have available," Ryan said. "And it's just
nice to do something where you're helping people."

The number of new graduates is good news for local hospitals, nursing homes and
home-care agencies, said Mary Lee Pollard, director of Ellis Hospital's School
of Nursing. Unlike other graduates, nurses tend to stay in the area and work
here rather than relocating to positions elsewhere, she said.

The Center for Health Workforce Studies projects there will be even more
graduates -- close to 500 -- getting their RN licenses in the Capital Region
next year.

Still, the growing number of graduates may not be enough to meet the demand for
new registered nurses, according to the Center for Health Workforce Studies. The
center estimated that 7,000 new nurses will be needed statewide by 2010 -- more
than current projections of new graduates.

There's also no current data available on whether the number of people looking
to become licensed practical nurses is up or down. Salsberg said fewer people
could be seeking LPNs as employers are looking to hire RNs. RNs are in high
demand now, local health experts said, because they can assess a patient's
condition and make independent treatment decisions, while following a doctor's
general orders. LPNs may only perform tasks under the direction of an RN.
The average age of people graduating from nursing school has increased,
Harknett-Martin said. At Samaritan and Memorial, the average incoming student is
now in her 30s. The profession needs younger people to enter, especially as the
average age of working nurses continues to creep upward.

"Nurses who graduate in their mid-30s have a shorter work lifespan than do those
who graduate in their 20s." Harknett-Martin said. "It's simple math."