Which is a Better Investment for Health Workforce Growth: Expanded Educational Space or Financial Support to Students?
- Presenter:
Chair: Joel Hay; Discussant: TBA Mon June 5, 2006 13:45-15:15 Room 121
Rationale: The past eight years have been marked by a severe, acute shortage of registered nurses in the United States. In response to this shortage, federal and state governments have provided funding to nursing education programs to expand the supply of RNs. Most of these programs either provide financial support to currently-enrolled students, with the goal of improving the productivity of education programs, or expand the number of education slots available for students. There has been no research of the relative effectiveness of these strategies.
Objectives: This study compares the costs and results of programs to provide financial support to nursing students and expand nursing education slots, using new data from California.
Methodology: Twenty-two regional groups were awarded a total of $28 million to expand RN supply, with projects ending in 2005. Some of these groups used the funds to provide financial support to students, some expanded education slots, and some did both. In addition, some programs received private funds from hospitals and other local agencies to support their regional efforts. We are using data provided by the California Board of Registered Nursing, California Community Colleges Chancellors Office, the funded groups, and other state government agencies. To estimate the effectiveness of the financial support programs, we estimate a multivariate equation in which the graduation rate is the dependent variable, and the key explanatory variable is the percent of students receiving financial support. The coefficients from this equation are then used to estimate the net increase in graduating RNs resulting from the financial support programs. To estimate the effect of the slot-expansion programs, we multiply the number of new slots by the share of students expected to graduate. These two numbers of “net new nurses” are compared with the costs of each strategy.
Results: Over 1500 RN students received financial support to improve program productivity, and over 1800 new education spaces were created. Preliminary data suggest that the productivity-improvement programs had a substantial effect on student attrition. However, the programs that used funds to expand slots have allowed for the education of many additional nurses. It appears that the slot expansion programs provide more nurses per dollar. Final data are now being received by the research team and a final report will be written by March 31, 2006.
