A recent study of the nursing workforce in South Carolina
hospitals shows that the labor market for registered nurses (RNs) is tightening
up. Chief nursing officers in South Carolina acute-care hospitals were asked to
assess the local labor market for nursing personnel in their area and to
describe how their nursing workforce needs are changing. Eighty percent of
eligible hospitals responded to the survey.
Like most employers, hospitals would prefer to hire
experienced employees, but 88 percent of hospitals report that finding
experienced RNs is becoming difficult.
Hospitals have also been hiring new RN graduates – 23 percent expect
that new graduate hiring will be greater this year than last.
When asked about specific types of nursing personnel, most
hospitals said that recruitment was no more difficult this year than last.
However, 47 percent of hospitals that utilize clinical nurse specialists said
they were becoming more difficult to find; 38 percent of hospitals said staff
RNs were becoming more difficult to recruit; and 35 percent of hospitals were
experiencing recruitment difficulties with nurse aides. In the Upstate region of the state, 73
percent of hospitals reported difficulty recruiting nurse aides.
Some of the tightening in the RN labor market is due to the
growth in new roles for nurses. As healthcare delivery models change to focus
on primary care and better coordination of care, nurses are being utilized in
new ways. More than half of hospitals said that they had created new roles for
patient care coordinators and patient navigators in the past year. These new
roles are focused on helping patients coordinate their care across multiple
physicians or care settings, such as when moving from the hospital to
rehabilitation and then back home.
A significant number of hospitals also expect to increase
employment levels for different types of nurses during 2015. Fifty percent of
hospitals expect to add new jobs for nurse practitioners; 40 percent expect to
add new staff RN positions and 40 percent expect to add new jobs for nurse
aides and assistants. Between 10 percent and 27 percent of hospitals responding
to the study also expect to add jobs for nurse midwives, certified registered
nurse anesthetists, managers and administrators, nurse educators, clinical
nurse leaders, and clinical nurse specialists. The only type of nursing
personnel likely to see fewer hospital jobs is licensed practical nurses
(LPNs): 36 percent of hospitals expect employment levels to decrease for LPNs
in 2015.
This study was a collaborative effort between the Office for
Healthcare Workforce Analysis and Planning in the South Carolina AHEC program
office and the Office of Healthcare Workforce Research for Nursing in the
University of South Carolina College of Nursing. The full study report, titled The Hospital Nursing Workforce in South
Carolina: 2015, can be found on the Office for Healthcare Workforce
Analysis and Planning website at
www.office for healthcare workforce.org
The Office
for Healthcare Workforce Analysis and Planning, part of the South Carolina Area
Health Education Consortium at the Medical University of South Carolina, is funded
by a grant from The Duke Endowment. Located
in Charlotte, NC, the Duke Endowment
seeks to fulfill the legacy of James B. Duke by improving lives and communities
in the Carolinas through higher education, health care, rural churches and
children’s services. Since its inception, the Endowment has awarded more than
$3 billion in grants.