Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas

Program creates better educated nursing staff

How you can help: Contact Ellen Dearman at 214-820-7877 or Ellen.Dearman@BaylorHealth.edu, or submit your information online.

Baylor Health Care System boasts a tenured nursing staff with lower than average turnover rates, solid performance assessments, robust accreditation and strong financial support. Research has shown that hospitals like Baylor that invest in recruiting, training and keeping registered nurses save lives through quality care.

However, our ability to recruit and retain highly educated nurses is impacted by the nationwide nursing shortage. At any given time, Baylor needs to hire 500 registered nurses. By 2020, the United States will be short an estimated 1 million nurses.

An aging population is the root cause of this problem. As baby boomers get older, the demand for nursing care increases. However, those providing nursing care are getting older at the same time, and many are reaching retirement age. However, there is difficulty in replacing them, as there is also a shortage of nursing school faculty. That group, too, is rapidly approaching retirement age.

Without intervention, the demand for registered nurses will change from a chronic shortage into a nationwide health care crisis. Averting this crisis at Baylor is the goal of Advancing Nursing Excellence. The program provides scholarships that allow Baylor nurses to continue their education while still working half time.