HASC and HealthImpact coordinated this Orange County Nursing Specialty Advisory Team forum along with three other regional meetings this past autumn.
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Addressing the shortage of experienced hospital specialty nurses remains a strategic workforce priority for HASC and HealthImpact. Regional forums conducted in the Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Orange County and Ventura/Santa Barbara areas last fall helped identify five specialty areas with the greatest need: Peri-Operative, Critical Care, Emergency Department, Labor and Delivery, and Neonatal Intensive Care. Participating hospitals supported the concept of continued development and expansion of courses provided by nursing schools offered in collaboration with area hospitals.

Over the past two years, in response to local workforce needs, nine nursing schools, including community colleges, CSUs, and private universities have conducted 15 specialty courses to help current RNs transition into specialty areas and also help RN students learn specialized knowledge and skills as pipelines to employment. These community-based courses have been funded through a combination of public and private grants, and other mechanisms, such as direct payment from hospitals enrolling their RNs.

Specialty courses that address evolving workforce needs in the HASC region will benefit from collaboration and coordination across all programs. Nursing Specialty Advisory Teams were established by HASC this year within each of their four areas: Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Orange County, and Ventura/Santa Barbara, that included representation from hospitals, nursing schools, and agencies supporting workforce development.

Nursing Specialty Advisory Team Functions and Activities:

1. Determine current and forecasted nursing specialty needs, considering challenges within the area, and capacity that could be met through nursing specialty programs.
2. Identify priorities for the number and type of specialty programs to be conducted, providing sufficient access.
3. Identify and engage nursing schools to conduct one or more courses and communication and outreach to connect participating hospitals.
4. Establish a strategic plan scaled to meet evolving nursing workforce needs to prepare RNs and RN students for hospital specialty areas using the latest teaching-learning methodologies and preceptor standards; coordinate and support activities to move programs forward.
5. Identify resource needs, including program costs, and hospital return on investment, to support sustainability; seek and obtain short-term funding to support pilots or development of new programs.
6. Contribute to, support and adopt a regional framework to develop, implement, evaluate, and improve specialty programs (core components) across all areas and specialties to increase success.

HASC and HealthImpact will provide leadership and coordination, working with each of the four Advisory Teams to develop and implement priorities specific to each area as part of the overall regional plan addressing the shortage of experienced hospital specialty RNs.  

Questions should be directed to Carolyn Orlowski, program director at HealthImpact, at (310) 714-9242.

Contact:
Teri Hollingsworth
(213) 538-0763
thollingsworth@hasc.org