Background
In July 2002, the U. S. Congress passed Public Law 107-116 that authorized $1.1 million to be directed to the Iowa Department of Public Health to establish a Center for Health Care Workforce Shortage. Funding for the Center was a result of the efforts of U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), and followed the work of Governor Tom Vilsack's 2001 Task Force on Nursing Shortage, the Iowa Council of Nurses, the Iowa CareGivers Association and others. The Center is federally funded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Bureau of Health Professions. Public Law 108-07 subsequently authorized the Center to apply to HRSA for $993,500 to sustain its work for a second 12-month period. The Center changed its name to the Center for Health Workforce Planning in June 2003.

Purpose
The purpose of the Center is to assess and forecast health workforce supply and demand; address barriers to recruitment and retention; support strategies developed at the local level that prevent shortages; and engage in activities that promote and assure a viable health workforce in Iowa. Emphasis on nursing and nursing assistive personnel will be expanded to other health workers if funding is sustained.

2002 Nursing and Nursing Assistive Personnel Grant Program
On August 16, 2002, the center offered three competitive funding opportunities, for a total amount of $838,152, to establish Iowa-based demonstration projects, mentoring programs and stimulus/incentive personnel packages that promote recruitment and retention of nurses and nursing assistive personnel. On October 14, 2002, Senator Harkin and Governor Vilsack announced 45 awardees of the grant program that will extend through September 30, 2003. Grant recipients are currently implementing their projects. The Center provides technical support and is working with the demonstration projects and mentoring programs to facilitate statewide communication and replication of best practices. A list of the projects may be found online at the Center Web site:

Employer and Retirement Projection Surveys
In 2002, the Center surveyed 1,320 employers in long-term care settings, assisted living facilities, home health agencies and ambulatory clinics to assess nursing and nursing assistive personnel workforce demand in Iowa. Results of the survey are posted at the Center Web site. In 2003, the Center will work in partnership with other data collection agencies to address hospital and clinic vacancies and turnover rates. The Center will initiate an online survey of over 400 long-term care facilities, and explore issues in all settings through focus groups and key interviews. The Center is currently coordinating a survey of a sample of 650 RNs and 525 LPNs between the ages of 51 and 60, who are actively licensed in Iowa, to determine intent to retire and strategies that support continued practice. 2003 employer and retirement survey results will be posted on the Center Web site in fall 2003.

Regional RN Tracking Pilot Project
The Center is working in partnership with the University of Iowa, Office of Statewide Clinical Education Programs, to incorporate registered nurses into an existing Health Professions Inventory of physicians, pharmacists, dentists, physician assistants and advanced registered nurse practitioners. This collaborative project will create a new mechanism for collecting inclusive data about registered nurses in one region of Iowa that can be expanded to other regions of the state and other health workers. Activities in summer 2003 include development of a unique advisory group to guide identification of RN data elements and selection of a region within Iowa to pilot RN tracking. Data collection will begin in fall 2003.

Recruitment Forecasting Group: Joint Faculty Appointments
This Center forecasting group, coordinated by the Iowa Community College Nursing Education Directors Association, has identified two statewide priorities: preparation of qualified faculty members to teach nursing and expansion of clinical sites for student experience. Joint faculty-clinical appointments were identified as the primary strategy to address both priorities. The Center will facilitate the work of the forecasting group as it develops an action plan in partnership with the Iowa Association of Colleges of Nursing.

State Infrastructure Development to Expedite Entry into the Health Workforce
The Center is working in partnership with the Iowa Board of Nursing and Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals to create new data sharing capabilities that expedite entry of nurses and nursing assistive personnel into the workforce. In concert with the agencies that collect data about the two largest populations of health workers, the Center is focusing on activities to enhances online license renewal for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses, and provide direct entry of nurse aide test scores into the Nursing Assistant Registry.

Mapping Projects
In January 2003, the Center initiated a mapping project to identify current supply and demand for nurses and nursing assistive personnel on a county-by-county basis. New databases were created and converted to maps for use by stakeholders and the public. Topical areas include nurses by county of residence and Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program Shortage Areas; population statistics and Federal Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA); Iowa hospitals by Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program; nursing education programs; Nursing Assistant Registry data and approved training centers, and community health indicators.

Registered Nurse and Licensed Practical Nurse Supply Data
The Center created a database for selected data elements identified in Iowa Board of Nursing Annual Reports between 1986 and 2002 for use by stakeholders and the public. The information is has been converted to tables and graphs that illustrate trends in the actively licensed nursing population related to supply, age, basic education, highest degree and NCLEX passing percentages.

Center Web Site: www.idph.state.ia.us (Enter "workforce" in the dialogue box.) The Center maintains a Web site that provides information about current funding opportunities at federal and state levels, scholarships and loans for faculty and student, surveys, resources for high school students, committee activities, reports and newsworthy events. The site is designed to link visitors to Center staff and a wide array of national and state resources.

Contact Information
Eileen Gloor, Program Director, 515 281-8309/egloor@idph.state.ia.us
Jeneane Moody, Community Health Consultant, 515 281-6211/jmoody@idph.state.ia.us

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