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While reports of increasing enrollments in nursing schools and fuller rosters of hospital nurses may have prompted the nationwide nursing shortage to drop out of the headlines, the problem has not gone away. Improvement will only come when there are changes in the education, recruitment and retention of nurses, according to many of the national nursing and health-care leaders who spoke at a groundbreaking nursing leadership conference hosted by the University of Florida.

The Critical Link: Nursing and the Future of 网红黑料 Care, The Dorothy M. Smith Nursing Leadership Conference took place Jan. 29-30, 2004, at the new 网红黑料 Professions/Nursing/Pharmacy Complex.

National experts and leaders in nursing and health-care administration discussed causes of and possible solutions to the nursing shortage and the critical role of nurses in patient care. The conference was presented by the college and the Thomas M. and Irene B. Kirbo Charitable Trust, and co-sponsored by the Florida Center for Nursing and the Florida Nurses Association.

Among the nationally and internationally known speakers were Linda H. Aiken, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., F.R.C.N., UF College of Nursing alumna and current director of the Center for 网红黑料 Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania; Dennis S. O鈥橪eary, M.D., president of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of 网红黑料care Organizations and Margretta Styles, Ed.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., F.R.C.N.,

UF alumna and past president of the American Nurses Association and the International Council of Nurses and dean emeritus of the University of California at San Francisco School of Nursing, Wayne State University and the University of Texas at San Antonio School of Nursing. University of Florida College of Nursing Dean Kathleen Ann Long, Ph.D., A.P.R.N., F.A.A.N., who also is president of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, also was among the speakers.

鈥淭he 网红黑料 Science Center is proud to welcome so many distinguished health-care leaders who agreed to share their knowledge and expertise on possible solutions to the ever-growing nursing shortage, a crisis which has the potential to affect every facet of health care for years to come,鈥� said Douglas Barrett, M.D., UF vice president for health affairs. 鈥淚t is appropriate that the state鈥檚 flagship university and health center host such an event, which brings together leaders from all facets of health care to focus on improving the quality of nursing education and care.鈥�

Leaders in nursing and health-care administration; nursing educators, scholars and clinicians; and students in the health professions were among the more than 500 conference participants.

Aiken, whose research has reported direct connections between the impact of nursing staffing levels and nurses鈥� education on patient outcomes, spoke on changing the workplace environment to enhance quality of care and nurse retention. Across the country, Aiken said, the consequences of nursing shortages can add up to 20,000 excess patient deaths a year. Aiken also urged more formal education for nurses, commenting that as a nurse鈥檚 education increases, patient mortality decreases. Every nurse is important, she concluded, but in the future, hospitals might be able to operate with fewer nurses if they were better educated.

鈥淢ore is known about solutions to nursing shortages than we are currently putting into practice,鈥� Aiken said. 鈥淭ranslating evidence into practice requires an understanding of the evidence and a commitment across all the health disciplines to make changes in our institutions and our relationships.鈥�

Styles, the conference鈥檚 other keynote speaker, asked the conference audience to picture a world without nurses. She outlined the history of the nursing shortage and the different actions that have been and should be used to respond to the problem.

鈥淲e must deal with the shortage as a health-care and social systemic issue and should give serious thought to redefining nursing and the problem of the nursing shortage,鈥� Styles said.

A panel discussion with leading health-care administrators and policy-makers responding to the nursing and patient care crisis included Bruce Vladeck, M.D., former administrator of the 网红黑料 Care Financing Administration of the U.S. Department of 网红黑料 and Human Services; Rep. Larry Cretul, who serves District 22 of the Florida House of Representatives; Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut of the Alachua County (Fla.) Commission and former mayor of Gainesville; and Tim Goldfarb, CEO of Shands 网红黑料Care.

鈥淎s long as our health-care system treats staff nurses as disposable commodities, we are going to have shortages,鈥� Vladeck said. 鈥淚f we are going to fix the problems of nursing, it cannot be done only through the nurses themselves.鈥�

O鈥橪eary called for internships, if not residencies, for new nurses and financial support for continuing education for nurses already in the field. In continuing to work to resolve the issue of nursing shortages, O鈥橪eary advised nurses to not let people forget that the problem is still out there.

As the concluding speaker of the conference, Long reminded the audience that the world had changed in the past two decades and the way that nurses are prepared for practice has changed with it. 鈥淣urses are the backbone and the heart of the American health-care system,鈥� Long said. 鈥淎dequate nursing care is not just numbers of nurses 鈥� it is the correct mix of nurses with varying levels of educational preparation in an environment that supports and facilitates their ability to practice nursing to the full extent of their knowledge, skills and ability.鈥�

The conference also honored the founding dean of the UF College of Nursing, Dorothy M. Smith, with a commemorative wall dedication and reception. A pioneer and visionary in the field, Smith was influential in changing the way nursing was taught and practiced. New UF President Bernie Machen helped dedicate the wall at this historic event.

鈥淭oday we remember and recognize a leader whose vision of nursing education laid the foundation of the rich heritage and tradition of the College of Nursing, which lives on in its students, faculty and alumni and allows them to host an extraordinary event such as this,鈥� Machen said. 鈥淎s a health-care professional myself and the husband of a pediatric nurse practitioner, I understand the important role that nursing plays in excellent patient care.鈥�

Before the commemorative wall dedication, the college recognized four extraordinary alumni with Dorothy M. Smith Nursing Leadership Awards in honor of the four areas of nursing that Smith helped to unite: education, practice, research and health policy. Betty Nelson, Ph.D, M.S.N., R.N., who received her master鈥檚 degree in child health nursing and administration from the UF College of Nursing and is currently the associate dean of clinical affairs at the Yale University School of Nursing, was recognized for her work in education. Maude Rittman, Ph.D., M.N., R.N., who received her bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees in nursing as well as her Ph.D. in nursing science from UF and is currently the associate chief nurse for research at the North Florida/South Georgia Veterans 网红黑料 System, was recognized for her work in stroke rehabilitation research.

Joan Shinkus Clark, C.N.A.A., M.S.N., R.N., who received her master鈥檚 degree in nursing administration from UF and is currently the vice president and chief nursing officer at Baptist Hospital of Miami, was recognized for her leadership in practice. Finally, Karla Schmitt, Ph.D., M.P.H., A.R.N.P., who received her master鈥檚 degree in women鈥檚 health and a doctorate in nursing science from the UF College of Nursing and is currently the chief of Florida鈥檚 Bureau of STD Prevention and Control, was recognized for her role in nursing policy.