While the nursing shortage continues to challenge hospital recruiters nationwide, many Chicago area hospitals are meeting their staffing goals by touting innovative health programs and focusing on retention first.

It is a simple result of supply and demand. The demand for health care practitioners has increased and will continue to do so as baby boomers age, but the number of graduating nurses is not enough to support that growing population.

“Our number of applicants has gone down and we are not seeing seasoned, experienced candidates,” said Marjorie Maurer, vice president of operations and chief nurse executive at Advocate Good Samaritan in Downers Grove. “The data tells us it is only going to get worse, because of the high number of aging faculty.”

The Council on Physician and Nurse Supply’s 2007 National Physician and Nurse Supply Survey compiled results from 402 hospitals spread across all 50 states.

Of those responding, an overwhelming 99.5 percent replied that the number of nurses trained in the U.S. should be increased. Seventy-seven percent agreed that the nursing shortage is a serious problem that should be addressed, and 32 percent said that recruiting nurses has become extremely difficult, while 54 percent say that it is somewhat difficult.

And while many health care facilities are struggling to fill positions, nurses are having no problems finding jobs. Starting salaries are good, ranging from the high $40,000s to the lower $50,000s.

The salary and availability of positions makes the profession attractive for college students and working professionals seeking a second career, but unfortunately schools are having trouble providing faculty and facilities to accommodate the number of applicants. (See related article on page XX.)

Thus, thousands of qualified applicants are turned away each year, because there are not enough programs to support the population.

Trish Anen, vice president of operations and chief nursing officer at Edward Hospital in Naperville, said that there is still an acute nursing shortage and that some applicants may eventually be turned off by the process.

“The situation continues to worry me,” said Anen. “If applicants end up waiting too long to get into a program, many of them may take themselves off of waiting lists all together.”

The Chicago area is very competitive and home to some of the best health care facilities in the nation, but even some well-established hospitals are beginning to feel the pressure of the shortage.

“Fortunately, our vacancy rate has not gone up much, but the time it takes to fill those vacancies has,” said Advocate’s Maurer. “We have 700 nurses at Good Sam and right now our vacancy rate is at 5 percent, which is kind of high, but it is the summer.”

Adventist Health System, a hospital network of 36 hospitals nationwide, is constantly facing the recruiting challenges in today’s market, but the health care provider is attempting something that no other network has done in Illinois within the past 25 years. It is opening a brand new hospital.

Adventist Bolingbrook Hospital will have a grand opening in November, but will probably not see patients until December of this year. The new hospital will have a staff of 268 nurses.

“There is still a shortage,” said Audra Treacy, regional recruiter for Adventist Hospital in Bolingbrook. “It’s always been tough, but it will continue to get worse because nurses themselves are getting older and we have to fill more openings.”

However, most area facilities are finding that while the number of nurses may not meet the growing demand, it is still possible to attract a high number of applicants based on a hospital’s reputation.

It also does not hurt to have the newest hospital in Illinois, as Treacy has found out.

Adventist Bolingbrook has already received 2,000 applicants for its 268 positions. Many of those applicants are internal, but it is still a much higher number than officials expected.

“We knew that there would be interest, but this is much more than we thought we would get,” said Treacy.

Treacy said that the ability to work in a new facility sells itself. While many of the applicants are from the Adventist system, a large number of them are experienced nurses from competing providers.

“Our advantage is that the facility is new and people are always interested in new,” said Treacy. “We will mine from other facilities.”

This raises an important issue in the health care world. While it is expected that in any industry workers will hop between competing employers, it’s more prevalent in nursing. If nurses are not satisfied with a certain position, they know that another position is just a phone call away at another facility. This industry-wide knowledge has made retention the focus of most providers today.

Adventist may have a new facility, but other providers have either new medical programs or state designations that also make them desirable places as well.

Each year, Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield receives 10,000 applications. Not all are for nursing positions, but the hospital does have an influx of applications for most positions.

Stephanie Gregory, CDH’s planning and staffing manager, said that it hasn’t been difficult to find nurses or other health professionals, but it has been more difficult to find those with the required experience or desired level of education.

“Today there is much more expected of nurses,” said Gregory. “We like to see candidates with a master’s degree. They have to be able to keep up with changing technology.”

CDH is a community hospital; sometimes such facilities suffer in the recruiting aspect, but Gregory said because of the hospital’s reputation and location it has not had problems drawing solid recruits.

The ambition of officials at CDH is to become a regional medical center, which will then allow the facility to take on extreme cases.

“We want to be able to treat cases here that you would only see at Chicago hospitals in the past,” said Gregory. “That would give us an advantage.”

Top health care professionals want to work in environments where they have the maximum amount of opportunities to learn and expand their knowledge base, said Gregory.

Acquiring key technology and innovative practices is also a way to lure quality candidates.

CDH recently announced that it will initiate new proton therapy cancer treatment at its facility in 2010, making it the eighth hospital in the country to do so and the first in Illinois.

In 2005, Edward Hospital became the first hospital in DuPage County to be designated a Magnet Hospital for nursing excellence by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. Only 2 percent of the nation’s hospitals have received this designation.

This designation has helped Edward in its recruiting practices as it is an easier process now than it was five years ago, said Betsy Roche, director of staffing.

“The nursing shortage may not be as bad as some are predicting,” said Roche. “We are not sure, but our applications are up 25 percent and we have the ability to pick and choose. Our reputation makes my job very easy.”

Local hospitals have also found that partnering with area nursing schools has been beneficial in recruiting.

“We host 10 schools of nursing and can have as many as 700 students come through this facility for education,” said Advocate’s Maurer.

Officials at most facilities interviewed for this article said that new employees generally come from referrals. When a hospital gains a certain reputation or establishes a certain culture based around its nurses, word will spread and others will seek to join them.

“It’s more than just benefits today,” said Maurer. “We put most of our efforts into retention, because our current employees are our best recruiters. We create councils that allow our nurses to be involved with the decision-making processes at this hospital. Nurses want to be involved and feel like they are a part of the process.”