Registered nurse Karri Walker listens to the heart of patient Joe Thompson of Beloit. Walker is a nurse on the medical floor of Mercy Hospital in Janesville.
JANESVILLE — Rock County doesn't have a nursing shortage, but the aging baby boomers and new hospital planned for Janesville should increase demand for health care professionals, local officials said.
Mercy Hospital has more applicants than it has positions open during this graduation season, Director of Nursing Catherine Luchsinger said.
"I'm hearing that from a lot of organizations," she said.
It's a good position for Mercy, she said, because it allows the health care system to be more selective in hiring the best candidates.
"I'm looking for that passion to make a difference in peoples' lives," said Luchsinger, director of nursing.
She usually asks the candidate to tell her a story about a time in the candidate's nursing career that he or she felt "they truly made a difference."
"I can usually pick up from there how they reflect on how they took care of that family or that individual how they feel about being an nurse," she said. "What I'm looking for is individuals that enjoy coming to work everyday and want meaning to their lives—(they're) looking for personal growth and making a difference with our patients."
That passion for making a difference is recognized today as the last day of National Nurses Week, which honors those in the nursing field for the care they provide to patients. Today also is the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.
With the aging baby boomer population and planned St. Mary's Janesville Hospital, the area outlook is bright for employment in health care, according to Sharon Kennedy, vice president of learning at Blackhawk Technical College, and Diane Pillard, UW-Rock County dean.
Pillard has been guiding the development of a partnership between UW-Rock, Blackhawk Technical College, UW-Oshkosh and the local health care community to provide the bachelor's degree program.
Those planning the program found that more than 300 nurses at Mercy and Beloit Memorial Hospital will be eligible for retirement within the next 10 years, she said.
While the program would open the door for more people to get into the field, Pillard said she anticipates many of the students will be registered nurses seeking the additional degree. She's heard from health care administrators who are seeking nurses with bachelor's degrees to take on more responsibilities and decision-making because physicians are so overwhelmed, she said.
The Rock County area doesn't have a nursing shortage, Kennedy said, but other areas of the state and country have had problems, especially in some western states, where $20,000 to $30,000 signing bonuses are offered.
Luchsinger said one reason for the national nurse shortage is a shortage of educators.
Part of that is attributed to compensation. A teaching salary could be $55,000 to $60,000, while a nurse working overtime could make $75,000 to $90,000, Kennedy said.
Plus, it can be tough to find nurses with a minimum of a master's degree to teach, Pillard said. News about the UW-Rock program is attracting resumes for teaching, she said, so she's not anticipating a problem filling positions.