THE NURSING SHORTAGE IS YOUR BUSINESS, TOO

HOW YOU CAN HELP

 The nationwide nursing shortage has made the headlines in most major newspapers multiple times since the turn of the decade. In response to this shortage, healthcare facilities have undertaken a number of strategies to alleviate the crunch, including sharply increasing wages and benefits, utilizing temporary staffing agencies, recruiting foreign trained nurses, providing flexible working arrangements, and working with educational institutions to cultivate future nurses. In addition, colleges of nursing in Montana have been diligently working to increase the number of new nurses graduating each year. Despite these efforts, many facilities are forced to use lower than desired staffing levels, as the number of nurses leaving the Montana workforce exceeds the number entering it.

According to the “State of Aging in Montana” report published by the Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) in 2002, registered nurses are responsible for the largest portion of the nation’s health care, representing 30 percent of Montana’s healthcare workforce. Nonetheless, most registered nurses are nearing retirement age. In 2000, 70 percent were over 40, while only 9.1 percent were under 30 years old. Nationally, nursing shortages are especially acute in facilities heavily dependent on nurses, such as nursing homes.

In an attempt to be an active part of the solution to the nursing shortage, the Montana Health Care Association (MHCA), which represents nursing homes and assisted living facilities throughout the state, has created a Scholarship Foundation, which will be offering scholarships to students who are enrolled in nursing programs in Montana. The first scholarships, to be awarded in the spring of 2007, will be given as part of the Donald E. Pizzini Memorial Nurse ScholarshipProgram. This program memorializes Don Pizzini, a former president of MHCA. In his many years as administrator of the Cascade County Convalescent Center (now called Missouri River Manor) in Great Falls, and in his work with MHCA, Don had a passionate commitment to long term care and the elderly and to the dedicated caregivers who worked to give them the quality of life they deserve. These scholarships will be awarded in honor of this dedicated, innovative leader. Several awards of up to $1,000 each will be given each year. The number of awards will depend on the success of fund-raising efforts and the pool of scholarship applicants.

In addition to his service at the Cascade County nursing home during the 1970s and 1980s, Don served a number of years as the City/County Public Health Officer. Later, he was appointed as the Director of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) by then-governor Stan Stephens, a position Don held for 18 months. Don left DPHHS to head up the Montana Office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), where he served until his untimely death in July of 1994.

During his tenure with the EPA, Don was instrumental in the cleanup of Anaconda’s old copper smelter site, which ultimately became the Old Works Golf Course, a prestigious championship caliber course designed by Jack Nicklaus. The course was the first of its kind to be built on a Federal EPA Superfund Site. It was lauded nationally as a success story for rehabilitating previously toxic environments. In recognition of his contribution towards the project, the road leading into the course was designated “Pizzini Way.”

The Donald E. Pizzini Memorial Nurse Scholarship program is the first of its kind in Montana, sponsored by the long term care industry exclusively for nurses. MHCA has provided the initial funding for the Foundation. The Foundation is also receiving ongoing contributions from industry leaders in Montana who share its vision, as well as from outside individuals who would like to honor Don Pizzini in this manner and contribute to this worthwhile cause.

The MHCA Scholarship Foundation exists to create a perpetual source of financial support for education to sustain a compassionate and skilled nursing work force to meet the current and future demands of long term care. The Foundation Board of Directors is planning various fund-raising events in the coming months to build its reserves and assure the availability of scholarships into the future. Just like Don’s legacy of service and commitment to long term care, public health, and the people of Montana, the MHCA Scholarship Foundation intends to establish its own legacy by helping to ensure the future supply of nurses in Montana.

Assuring sufficient nursing care for current and future generations of Montanans is everybody’s business. We must all do our part to solve this problem. A contribution to the MHCA Scholarship Foundation is an opportunity to play a role in solving this problem and also to honor an innovative Montana leader in the long term care, public health, and environmental health arenas.? Those wishing to contribute may send a check payable to “MHCA Scholarship Foundation” to:? MHCA Scholarship Foundation, 36 S. Last Chance Gulch, Ste. A, Helena, MT 59601.

Those wishing to apply for a scholarship should go to www.mthealthcare.org for scholarship information and application forms.