The Healthcare Institute at the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association (AzHHA) founded Heathworks, the Arizona Healthcare Workforce Data Center, to study the health professions in Arizona. The initial study, The Arizona RN Shortage: 2007 Results, sounds an alarm for the future of healthcare in our state. The study results reveal that Arizona will need approximately 49,000 additional RNs by 2017 to keep pace with the state's population growth as well as to replace retiring registered nurses (RNs) and those lost to normal attrition.
"Nurses are the foundation of a healthcare system and these staggering numbers demonstrate there is much to be done in order to fortify that foundaton," said James Puffenburger, FACHE, AzHHA Board of Directors and President/Chief Executive Officer, Northern Arizona Healthcare. "It's my hope, and the hope of AzHHA's Healthcare Institute, that this ground-breaking study will be used to formulate solutions to Arizona's critical statewide shortage of registered nurses."
The Data Center is the first ever to forecast Arizona's future needs for RNs. It revealed major factors contributing to the shortage including:
- Arizona's rapidly growing population. According to the U.S. Census bureau, Arizona is the second fastest growing state in the nation;
- More than one-third of Arizona's current RNs are 55 and older and are approaching retirement;
- There is an annual RN attrition rate of approximately 3.5%;
- Twelve of the state's 15 counties fall below the national average of RNs per 100,000 population.
For more information regarding the Arizona Healthcare Workforce Data Center, click here. http://www.azhcwf.org/index.aspx
