UH-MC: Plenty of interest in nursing programs | News, Sports, Jobs
Mark Vincent (from left), Jade Dela Cruz, Anna Gilarski and Miki‘ala Maynard take a selfie while leaving the hospital after their final clinical was over. These students of the University of Hawaii-Maui College graduated in May. — Photo courtesy of Anne Scharnhorst
While the COVID-19 pandemic brought plenty of uncertainties, it’s made one thing clear: the importance of local nurses, says an associate professor at the University of Hawaii-Maui College.
Fortunately, in-state nursing schools like UH-Maui College had recruited just enough in recent years to meet and fill the demand, with about 80 percent of program graduates entering the Maui County workforce.
“The pressure and the need for qualified RNs on Maui is so acute,” said Anne Scharnhorst, who’s also the Allied Health Department chair of the nursing program. “We don’t have to recruit one bit, we have so much interest. We’re training the number that we feel like will get a job, and we also feel like we can flex up or down.”
Scharnhorst said that between travel restrictions and testing centers operating at half capacity to meet social distancing protocols, nursing students have had a “really hard time” getting their license exams completed; however, 37 students still graduated in May, only two fewer than last year.
Of the UH-MC graduating class, up to 30 will be hired by Maui Memorial Medical Center and some by other places like Hale Makua.
“The job market for the new nurses has been really strong for the last three years,” she said. “A lot of kids go to Mainland and get a job because they can’t afford to live here, so to have a series or set of jobs where people can actually stay here and work here and live, you know, the college and places in the community really puts a high value on that.”
The Hawaii State Center for Nursing released its Hawaii Nurse Education Capacity Report for the 2018-19 academic year last week, which shows that schools of nursing graduated 531 students from pre-license programs, a 20 percent increase from 2017-18. The report includes data from registered nurses who graduated from in-state schools between 2015 and 2018 and who completed the 2019 Nursing Workforce Supply Survey.
There are eight in-state schools of nursing across four counties. Of these, six are governed by the University of Hawaii system. The other two schools are not-for-profit private institutions located on Oahu.
UH-MC used to admit 42 qualified students into nursing programs twice annually but is now only admitting 42 once a year to adjust to the market and community needs.
About 100 students apply every year to the college’s nursing program.
“The goal is to educate how many Maui needs. We’re not trying to educate people to move,” Scharnhorst said. “It’s Maui County resources. Nursing programs are very expensive.”
UH-MC gives points to applying students for their prerequisite courses and pre-entrance exam. Additional points are given to a student who may have had past health care experience. Whoever gets the most points is admitted into the program.
However, Scharnhorst said UH-MC is now giving credit to those who have attended a Maui high school because “people who are born and raised and live here, are usually going to work here and take care of the community.”
“People come here for a lot of reasons. Who doesn’t like Maui?” she added. “But the real goal here is to try and get people to stay in Maui.”
Overall, the admissions process is transitioning to a more holistic approach.
“You really want to pick the right people, and the good people aren’t just the ones with a 4.0 (grade point average),” she said. “If you’re a B student, you can learn this stuff no problem, we will definitely teach you. You need a lot of resilience, and the ability to deal with people, and you have to be kind of hardy, and that isn’t measured by a 4.0.”
The data provided by recent graduates on the 2019 Nursing Workforce Supply Survey do not show any evidence that Hawaii’s schools of nursing are producing more new graduate RNs than the job market can absorb.
Rather, new graduates seem to prefer working in hospitals, and their chances of working in hospitals improve if they are willing to leave the state, according to the report.
The data also show the demand for post-license nurse education is lower than the demand for pre-license education. Post-license programs are intended to support the academic advancement of nurses who are already in the workforce.
Those who choose to pursue post-license education may be interested in expanding their practice, clinical judgment or pursuing jobs that require higher levels of education.
Findings indicate that new graduate RNs who left the state after graduation are more likely to work in hospitals and less likely to work in long-term care settings than new graduate RNs who stayed in Hawaii.
This also suggests that although there are available jobs in Hawaii for graduates, those who want to work in hospitals have a better chance of doing so if they leave the state.
“Most of them, if they get a job, they will stay here,” Scharnhorst said. “If they don’t get a job, they leave. The last three years the majority of students, about 80 percent, have gotten a job on Maui.”
Enrollment demand for pre-license programs exceeded capacity with schools reporting having received a total of 1,785 fully qualified applications to pre-license programs. This was 680 more applications than they received for the 2017-18 academic year.
Around 65 percent of applicants to these programs were denied admission because of capacity constraints.
A total of 1,254 students were enrolled in Hawaii’s pre-license nurse education programs in 2018-19, which is a slight decrease (3 percent) from the year before. Of the students enrolled in pre-license programs, 64 percent were Bachelor of Science in Nursing students, 20 percent Associate Degree in Nursing students, 10 percent were Graduate Entry Program in Nursing students, and 6 percent Licensed Practical Nurse students.
While working in health care can be taxing and requires support and preparation, “it’s a great job and you make a great impact on the community,” Scharnhorst said.
“It’s a great lifelong job you can raise a family on and they pour into the economy, and they are insured, but you don’t want to have to go through all that training and have to leave your home,” she said. “Maui residents have a really good place to go and they end up with good nurses taking care of them, and they want to stay here.”
* Dakota Grossman can be reached at dgrossman@mauinews.com.
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