“Taking the Long View
to Build the Nation's
Nursing Workforce”

CALL FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

The Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers seeks your comments on the nurse supply, demand, and education dataset drafts created as part of the Minimum Dataset Project sponsored, in part, by AARP’s Center to Champion Nursing in America. These documents are intended to establish standardized nurse supply, demand, and education datasets to be collected by each state as part of a larger effort to effectively quantify and address the country’s critical nursing shortage - which is expected to grow to between 340,000 and 1,000,000 Registered Nurse full-time equivalent vacancies by 2020.

Currently states differ substantially in both the methods and metrics used for collecting nurse workforce data, making it impossible to produce an accurate national picture of the nursing shortage. Standardizing the collection of state-level nurse workforce data, and thereby creating a national repository of data, would enable state and national nurse workforce planners to more quickly and accurately implement best policy approaches to resolve the critical shortage. Additionally, state-level policy analysts would then possess a reliable way to benchmark progress in addressing the nursing shortage in their state and across the nation.

The National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers thanks you for providing valuable feedback as we work to align nursing workforce data collection across the country. We believe the effort will enhance our ability to plan for imbalances in nurse supply and demand, position us to course-correct in response to changing conditions, and, ultimately, improve healthcare for all Americans.

The public comment period will run from Tuesday, May 12, 2009 until Friday, June 13, 2009. Individuals who wish to provide input about the minimum dataset drafts should do so by sending comments via email to datasets@nursingworkforcecenters.org.

SPECIAL THANKS

The National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers would also like to thank the following team members for their dedication and hard work on this project:

Project Coordinator

Jennifer G. Nooney, PhD, Florida Center for Nursing

Workgroup Leadership

Patricia Moulton, PhD
North Dakota Nursing Needs Study
Center for Rural Health
University of North Dakota

Jennifer G. Nooney, PhD
Florida Center for Nursing

Pamela L. Wiebusch
Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies

Workgroup Members

Michele L. Bromberg, MSN, APN, BC
Illinois Center for Nursing
Illinois Board of Nursing

Geri L. Dickson, RN, PhD
New Jersey Collaborating Center for Nursing

Lorinda Inman, RN, MSN
Iowa Department of Public Health
Iowa Board of Nursing

Sandra A. LeVasseur, PhD, RN
Hawaii State Center for Nursing

Mary L. McHugh, PhD, RN, BC
Indiana Nursing Workforce Development Coalition

Kammie Monarch, RN, MS, JD
Oklahoma Healthcare Workforce Center

Jennifer Murray, BS, PhD(c)
Tennessee Center for Nursing

Duane F. Napier, MSN, RN, BC
West Virginia Center for Nursing

Mary Val Palumbo, DNP, RN
Vermont Office of Nursing Workforce Research

Linda B. Roberts, MSN, RN
Illinois Center for Nursing

Jean Scholz, RN
Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence

Maureen Sroczynski, RN, MS
Massachusetts Center for Nursing

Allison Terry, PhD, MSN, RN
Alabama Center for Nursing, Alabama Board of Nursing

Michelle Yore, MSPH
Florida Center for Nursing