Project Title:
Applicant Name:
Address:
Project Director:
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Succession Planning for the Future: A Nursing Administration Masters
Degree for Emerging Leaders
Florida Atlantic University, Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing
777 Glades Road, PO Box 3091, Boca Raton, FL. 33431-0991
Rose Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC
Phone (561) 297- 0055 Fax: (561) 297-3687
rsherman@fau.edu Website Address:
www.fau.edu/nursing
Needs Assessment and Rationale:
It is anticipated that this decade will present many challenges for the health care industry
and for the profession of nursing. Health care is likely to be reformed but the economic
resources to support access to care and reimbursement for services will not substantially change.
An aging population will require more health care services at a time when nursing is expected to
start losing a significant portion of the workforce to retirement. Projected shortages of registered
nurses are now expected to reach 260,000 by 2025 (Buerhaus, Auerback, & Staiger, 2009).
This shortage is anticipated to be especially intense in Florida, which is home to the
second-highest number of Medicare beneficiaries in the country (Kaiser Foundation, 2008). The
average age of a nurse in our service area, South Florida, is now 48.2 years of age, with more
than half the nurses over age 50. The current workforce of 35,291 nurses in this area of the state
grew by only 279 nurses between 2007 and 2009 (Florida Center for Nursing, 2009). Innovative
nursing leadership will be required to meet these challenges. Health care agencies will need to
build environments that support both the recruitment and retention of nurses. There is growing
evidence demonstrating the importance of the relationship between nurse leader support, a
healthy work environment and the retention of staff (Shirey, 2006; Kramer et al., 2007).
Buerhaus, Donelan, DesRoches, and Hess (2009) recently reported on findings from the 2008
National Nursing Sample that showed a significant percentage of nurses perceive they are less
respected by nurse executives and front-line managers than by other team members including
physicians. The preparation of emerging leaders through initiatives like this project will help
promote the development of healthy environments that will be essential to future nurse retention.
The Florida Center for Nursing (2007) has identified retention of the nursing workforce
as one of three key strategies for state success in workforce planning. The role of innovative
nurse leaders in promoting changes in the work culture is considered to be a critical part of
achieving this goal (Linkages). A Workforce 2015 Strategy Report was recently released by the
American Hospital Association (2010). Recommendations included educating young health care
leaders who have an appetite for change, are able to engage the workforce, are innovative
adapters of workforce practices, and are flexible in working with members of new generations.
The report also emphasized the need for hospitals to work with universities to help educational
institutions transform their traditional degree programs to educate leaders capable of being
transformative in a rapidly changing healthcare environment. (Linkages) This project is
consistent with this AHA recommendation.
Even in this current economic downturn, recruitment to fill nurse leader vacancies is
proving difficult for many health care agencies in Florida. The table below was published by the
Florida Center for Nursing (2008) and is a compilation of survey findings from Florida
employers. It is notable in this survey that nurse administrators and other leadership roles are
among the five most difficult specialty positions to fill across healthcare industries.
Table 1. Florida Center for Nursing Five Most Difficulty Specialties to Fill
Rank
Hospital
SNF
Home Health Public Health
MSN Prepared Geriatric NPs
NPs – All
Nursing
1
CNS
types
Supervisors
Nurse
MSN Prepared
Nurse
NPs and Midwives
2
Anesthetists
CNS
Administrators
Nurse
Nurse
Oncology
Nurse
3
Administrators Administrators
Specialists
Administrators
4
Operating
Room
Family/Adult
NPs
MSN Prepared
CNS
Clinic Staff
Nurses
5
Nurse
Practitioners
Rehabilitation
RNs
Home Care
Staff RNs
Care Coordinator
/Case Mgr
Hospice
Infection
Control RN
Patient Care
Coordinators
Home
Hospice
Staff RN
Quality
Control
Nurses
In-Service
Education
The current challenges in recruiting nurse leaders are likely to intensify during this
decade. In a national study conducted with over 1000 nurse leaders to survey their retirement
plans, more than 55% reported that they would retire between 2011 and 2020 (Hader, Saver &
Stelzer, 2006). As part of the needs assessment for this program, we surveyed Chief Nursing
Officers in our community in October 2009 about the current age profile of their agencies’
leaders (Table 2). We found that there are few nurses under the age of 40 in leadership roles in
our community health care agencies.
Table 2. Age of Nurses in Formal Leadership Positions – South Florida Health Care Agencies
20 – 30
31 – 40
41-50
51-60
60+
Health Care Agency
Years
Years
Years
Years
Years
Total Number of Leaders
of Age
of Age
of Age
of Age
of Age
Bethesda Memorial Hospital
0
2
4
5
2
Number of Leaders = 13
Boca Raton Community Hospital
0
4
6
4
4
Number of Leaders = 20
Columbia HCA Hospital
0
1
5
13
2
Number of Leaders = 21
Glades General Medical Center
0
1
3
4
5
Number of Leaders = 13
JFK Medical Center
0
4
13
11
2
Number of Leaders = 30
Jupiter Medical Center
0
0
10
8
2
Number of Leaders = 20
Table 2, continued
Health Care Agency
Total Number of Leaders
Martin Memorial Medical Center
Number of Leaders = 26
Palm Beach Public Health Department
Number of Leaders = 26
20 – 30
Years
of Age
0
31 – 40
Years
of Age
2
41-50
Years
of Age
7
51-60
Years
of Age
16
60+
Years
of Age
1
0
1
4
11
10
St Lucie Medical Center
Number of Leaders = 13
St Mary’s Medical Center
Number of Leaders = 39
Vitas Hospice
Number of Leaders = 14
Wellington Regional Medical Center
Number of Leaders = 20
0
3
3
6
1
1
3
12
13
3
0
1
8
4
1
0
2
7
8
3
In a focus group that was also conducted in October 2009 as part of the needs assessment
for this project, Chief Nursing Officers from ten community health agencies expressed a sense of
urgency to design a Masters track that would offer support for nurses early in their careers who
were interested in nursing leadership. “I can’t fill my leadership vacancies now – what will it be
like in the future?” reported one CNO. They recommended a need for a Masters Track in
Nursing Administration that offered not only innovative didactic material but also extensive
practicum and mentorship experiences. “When a young nurse comes to me looking for career
advice and has leadership potential, I need a resource for them,” another CNO reported. The
Chief Nursing Officers indicated strong support for the program and a willingness to support this
proposed program with preceptors/mentors from their leadership staff.