The Florida Center for Nursing has released the projection of a shortfall of 56,000 registered nurses by 2025 if something isn’t done now.
To explore possible solutions to the shortage, the Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida (the philanthropic affiliate of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida) and the Florida Center for Nursing served as project leaders for a Partners Investing in Nursing’s Future (PIN) grant. The PIN program is a national initiative led by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Northwest Health Foundation to address the nursing shortage in Florida, with the goal of maximizing the use of simulation technology in new nurse preparation and continuing education of Florida’s current nurses.
As part of this two-year project, SRA Research Group conducted statewide focus groups and individual depth interviews (IDIs) to obtain qualitative information. Simultaneously, data collection and analysis were conducted for quantitative results.
Following the research, the project leaders brought together academic, industry and policy leaders to address Florida’s nursing shortage through promoting simulation, collaboration and sustainable solutions for a Think Tank, which was held January 10-11, 2011 at the Hyatt Regency Orlando Airport.
Simulation, Nursing and Healthy Florida Communities: An Imperative for Change
http://www.flcenterfornursing.org/simulationproject/projectthinktank.cfm
The Think Tank was held to review qualitative and quantitative research findings, reflect on their meaning and potential impact, collect input on proposed strategies to optimize simulation usage, and develop a plan to implement recommendations.
SRA staff served as project team members for the project, and Barbara Allan presented results of the qualitative research conducted by SRA at the statewide think tank.
http://www.flcenterfornursing.org/files/Simulation_Project_Qualitative_Data_Exec_Summary.pdf
