FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Phil Martin, 615-254-6785

NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 28, 2002—Tennessee is facing a critical shortage of nurses and other healthcare professionals that has doubled since 1998 and is projected to get steadily more intense through 2020 according to the Tennessee Hospital Association.

Recent figures released today by THA show that in 1998 approximately 5 percent of the nursing positions in Tennessee’s hospitals were unfilled. In 1999, that number increased to 8.3 percent. In 2000, it climbed to 9.1 percent and in a recent informal survey done in February of this year it appeared to have climbed into double digits.

"Staffing is a major concern for Tennessee’s 160 hospitals," said Craig A. Becker, president and chief executive officer of THA. "But Nashville and Memphis seem hardest hit with vacancy rates at some hospitals approaching 30 percent."

Becker cited several reasons for the current shortage. "First, fewer young people are choosing healthcare as a career and the current healthcare workforce is aging. Equally important, the extremely low reimbursement rates under TennCare make it difficult for hospitals to compete for workers, particularly in border communities like Memphis and Chattanooga," Becker said.

In addition to nurses, there are shortages in other areas such as pharmacists, radiological technologists, respiratory therapists, emergency medical technicians-paramedics, medical records technicians and laboratory technologists among others the THA study noted.

The study shows that by the year 2020 there will be almost 10,000 fewer registered nurses in Tennessee than nurses needed, reflecting a steady trend that began as early as 1992.

Figures show the average age of a working registered nurse in Tennessee is 44 years and one half of the RN workforce will reach retirement age in the next 15 years. This comes at a time when the number of students enrolled in nursing schools in the country is down almost 20 percent over the past five years.

Becker noted that while the shortage is real and predicted to get worse, he believes hospitals can still cope with the shortage by increasing retention rates and working to attract more young people into healthcare careers.

The Tennessee Hospital Association, founded in 1938, serves as an advocate for all of the state’s hospitals, health systems, home health agencies and other healthcare organizations and the patients they serve.

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Sources for healthcare statistics: The Tennessee Hospital Association Survey, Joint Annual Report.