Worcester Business Journal

12 Worcester Business Journal • August 15, 2016 www.wbjournal.com W ith healthcare reform lo omi ng , C ent r a l Massachusetts nursing educators said hospitals and medical practices need highly knowledgeable nurses to fill vacated jobs and to leverage their academic prowess to help determine what the nursing pro- fession will look like down the line. Becker College this fall is launching a master's degree of science in nursing, where students can specialize in either global leadership or nursing informatics to assume leadership positions in health care – as a charge nurse, a nursing supervisor or an educator, for example. This makes Becker the latest college in Central Massachusetts to offer a pro- gram for nurses to obtain advanced degrees; the University of Massachusetts Medical School has a revered graduate nursing program and so does Worcester State University. As nurses continue to take on higher- level roles in the healthcare field, the push is on for them to seek master's degrees or even a Ph.D., according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and several local nursing educa- tors. In 2012, a nursing workforce plan released by the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education set a goal of raising the percentage of regis- tered nurses with a bachelor's degree or above from 55 percent to 66 percent by 2020, inspired by a 2010 report from the national nonprofit Institute of Medicine recommending 80 percent of registered nurses get a bachelor's or higher by that same year. At UMass Medical School's Graduate School of Nursing, all nurses are now required to pursue a doctorate: either a research-based Ph.D. or a doctor of nursing practice. "We wanted to raise the standard of practice, because we believe when we raise the standard of practice, we raise the standard of care. People will look at a patient more holistically with that evi- dence," said Joan Vitello, dean of the UMass nursing school. "It really encour- ages lifelong learning, getting that doc- torate degree." Workforce pipeline Between 2014 and 2024, the field for FOCUS Higher Education Advancing nursing education Central Mass. academia shifting to meet demand from evolving healthcare industry registered nurses is projected to grow by 16 percent – much faster than average growth – and the U.S. will need more than 400,000 new nurses, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to BLS, employment is pro- jected to grow due to growing rates of chronic conditions like diabetes and obesity, an increased emphasis on pre- ventative care, and growing demand for health care among aging Baby Boomers. Though there is a push for nurses to pursue a master's degree or even a doc- toral degree, the typical registered nurse has a bachelor's degree, according to the BLS. That's the current industry stan- dard, said Dorothy McCabe, director of nursing and health and safety at the Massachusetts Nurses Association. McCabe said her group encourages its members to move in that direction. To meet this need, the nurses association created four different reduced-tuition partnerships with four different schools, including Becker. Massachusetts Nurses Association members admitted to Becker for either their bachelor's degree or master's degree get 15 percent off their tuition, McCabe said. "Our goal is simple: Every nurse should have a bachelor of science degree in nursing. But that has become the industry standard also," she said. "Nurses working with associate's degree, for example, at Quinsigamond [Community College in Worcester], unfortunately hospitals are not hiring them. QCC does have plans, they do encourage their graduates to go to Worcester State or Becker." Several factors have affected supply and demand when it comes to nurses, according to the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education's Nursing and Allied Health Initiative. Nurses who planned to retire around the economic downturn instead stayed in their jobs, some went back to work after a spouse lost his or her job, and part- time nurses are seeking more hours. However, these are just interruptions to the bigger problem of a long-term nurs- ing shortage. With a shortage looming, it's not real- istic to expect that every entry-level nurse is going to have a bachelor's degree, said Jane June, dean of health- care at Quinsigamond Community College. Nor should it be the norm, June said, because there are a lot of potentially great nurses out there whose lifestyles can't support the baccalaureate degree path and would benefit from a more upward mobility-type approach. "If we did not exist, the students we have at Quinsigamond would never real- ize a dream, because they can't go for four years," said June, who is also a com- missioner for the national Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing. "So if you allow students to step into the field, whatever their life dictates – get certified, get a job and move upwardly BY LAURA FINALDI Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer Becker College's new master 's of science in nursing prepares students for careers as nurse educators, like Becker professor Enoh Ukpong, shown here with nursing undergraduates. P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y

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