Gov. Martin O'Malley announced yesterday that he is allocating $3.4 million to the University of Maryland School of Nursing to help alleviate a growing shortage of nurses in the state.
The school will use the money mostly to hire more faculty, but also to expand classroom space and buy equipment. Over the next few years, the school hopes to add 120 undergraduate students to its current enrollment of 600.
Plans also call for adding 120 masters and doctoral students to its current 900. The school needs to add roughly one faculty member for every 10 new students, said Dean Janet D. Allan.
The grant provides only a fraction of the money and training slots recommended in November by a task force representing 21 nursing schools and 47 hospitals in the state.
The report said Maryland would have a shortage of 10,000 nurses in 10 years unless steps are taken. It recommended doubling the enrollment at all the nursing schools in the state - meaning adding nearly 2,000 graduates a year - at an annual cost of more than $25 million.
"It's a big challenge," O'Malley said of the report's recommendations. "We want to make as much progress as we can."
The $3.4 million comes from the new Higher Education Investment Fund, created during the special legislative session late last year. O'Malley made the announcement during a news conference at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson yesterday.
"Given the economic situation in the country and the economic situation in the state, it's not possible to do it all this year," said Allan, who was a member of the task force.
O'Malley said other state money is available for nurse training, including a long-standing scholarship program and an $8.8 million program, financed by a surcharge on hospital bills, which provides grants for nurse recruitment and retention.
St. Joseph has developed a program supported by the training fund from hospital charges. Pam Jamieson, chief nursing officer at the Towson hospital, said it is receiving a grant of about $320,000 a year for three years. It uses the money to improve retention, mentor newly trained nurses and provide advanced specialty training for veterans.
While hospitals typically lose as many as a third of first-year nurses, St. Joseph has cut the turnover rate by more than half with its mentoring program, she said.
Overall, she said, St. Joseph has 788 full-time-equivalent nurses (two half-time nurses equals one full-time equivalent) and is recruiting to fill about 40 vacancies. Until it hires for open slots, she said, the hospital covers the shifts by paying overtime or by bringing in nurses from staffing agencies.
bill.salganik@baltsun.com