Retiring Nurses Urged To Stay

With a nationwide nursing shortage on the horizon institutions, schools, and even the U.S. Government are scrambling for solutions to this looming problem. One such solution is a new program spearheaded by Michigan State University and Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation. The new program will train retiring hospital nurses for positions in home-based, hospice, long term and ambulatory care. The idea is to slowly transition these veteran nurses to less strenuous positions in an attempt to keep them from fully retiring.

According to Teresa Wehrwein, an associate dean at MSU's College of Nursing, there will be 7,000 to 8,000 vacant nursing positions in Michigan in the next few years, and about 40,000 nurses will retire by 2016. "There is a need to encourage nurses to stay in the workforce a little while longer," noted Wehrwein. The newly established program will not only offer new courses it will also offer mentoring services. The $246,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson and Northwest Heath foundations along with a $125,000 contribution from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan foundation is expected to last for two years. The hope is the program will eventually become self sufficient by the time the grant money runs dry.

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