Report calls for collaborative approach to solving nursing shortage

Coordinated investment in nursing education, clinical placement capacity, and federal and state bodies to monitor the nursing workforce are among the recommendations of a report released this week by the Center for American Progress (CAP). “As policymakers look to fortify our health care system in the wake of the pandemic, fixing the national nursing shortage by investing in America's higher education system to graduate more nurses, boosting national and state coordination efforts to support the nursing pipeline, and retaining nurses should be top priorities,” said Jesse O’Connell, CAP's senior vice president for education. The Affordable Care Act authorized a National Health Care Workforce Commission in 2010, but Congress has never appropriated funding for the commission. The report also calls for funding and mandating state-level entities to report to the national commission. (HealthLeaders Media article, 5/24/22)