California is facing a nursing shortage. Community colleges might be a solution

Since the pandemic, nursing in California has taken a hit.

With an estimated the shortage of 36,000 licensed nurses, a decade long shortage that was exacerbated by COVID-19 and limited capacity at current programs, the state needs more nurses.

A possible solution? Provide opportunities through community colleges that would not only break down a barrier of entry, but diversify the workforce. Senate Bill 895 would require the office of the Chancellor for the California Community Colleges to pilot 15 nursing bachelor degree programs throughout the state. If passed, the effectiveness of the programs would be evaluated on or before July 1, 2032.

Community colleges are known to be the most affordable option in pursuing higher education in the state. They are hubs for communities of color and more mature students, said Christina Kelley, the education director for the American Nurses Association.

There is no majority racial group across for nurses the state, with 59% of the workforce identifying as non-white. However, the state is seeing a lack of Latino and Black representation among registered nurses, a survey from the University of San Francisco found.

Hispanics and Latino make up 40% of California’s population. Yet, they only make up 9% of the registered nursing workforce. The same study found Black Americans only make up 5% of California nurses with licenses and residences.

Currently, 70% of students attending a California community college come from a diverse ethnic background with a majority identifying as Hispanic and or Latino, according to the Chancellor’s Office. By diversifying the nursing workforce, it helps a patient’s experience.

“Seeing their caregiver as someone who looks like them, who speaks their language, who believes in things they believe in, helps puts a patient’s mind at ease,” Kelley said. “We have a duty as nurses to ensure that our body of professional nurses matches the population we serve.”

Diversifying the nursing workforce could provide repair trust for Black and brown communities and health care providers, Kelley said. To some, distrust can be traced to past experiences with discrimination and a history of unethical medical procedures. Seven in 10 Black Americans say they’ve been treated unfairly by health care providers, a survey from the Commonwealth Fund found.

“Every hospital or care organization that delivers care to the community should always look like their population served,” Kelley said. “Our population served should match the person giving the care. It creates a more comfortable space, a more trusting space.”

Ben Testani, the legislative team lead for NorCal Resist, a Sacramento-based non profit that support immigrants, said this bill could have a “second order positive effect” on immigrant communities, especially in Sacramento. Immigrants usually enroll at a community college when pursuing higher education, he said.

And for those who were in health care their home country, and wanting to continue medicine in the United States, this program could assist in re-certification.

“Making this relatively low cost, relatively accessible program to the (community colleges) is a really great way to get those people with those job skills re-certified in the United States and get right back to what they want to be doing,” Testani said.

California’s nursing shortage

The goal of SB 895 is to make obtaining a nursing degree more equitable and accessible. Sen. Richard Roth, D-Riverside, who authored the bill, said preference will be held for programs in the Central Valley, where there are currently nursing gaps.

The number of nurses has declined since the beginning of the pandemic, hitting rural areas significantly and causing concern for growing health care disparities.

Kelley said the shortage is happening for various reasons: nurses have left the profession because of traumatic experiences with the pandemic, some are retiring and programs are limited across the state. A combination of all three has created obstacles in the workforce.

“As nurses retire, leave, pivot and that combined with the impaction of nursing schools, it’s very difficult to churn out new nurses to backfill those roles,” Kelley said.

Today, a two-year nursing degree isn’t enough to land a nursing position, either. The nursing industry has a significant preference for bachelor’s degrees compared to an associate’s, which is the standard degree awarded at community colleges. Eighteen percent of California hospitals require a bachelor’s nursing degree in order to be eligible for employment, a 2021 Health Impact found. A 2017 report from Health Impact noted over half of hospitals preferred prospective nurses hold a bachelor’s degree.

Nursing bachelor’s degrees are typically offered at a public four-year institution, like a California State University campus. Students can also pursue a degree at private college. But both institutions are seeing limited capacity system wide, said Roth.

The education is the same, whether a prospective student goes to a California State or a community college, Roth said. Both students take the same clinical coursework, train in the same hospitals and complete the national examination which entitles them to practice as a nurse. The only difference is 30 additional units of coursework.

If passed, SB 895 would allow students who have completed their associate’s degree in nursing to stay and pursue their bachelor’s. This will be an option for the 15 community college districts selected for a pilot program.

“We’re using the community college programs to supplement the great work of our public and private institutions,” Roth said. “I think this is a win-win for everyone.”