With the average American’s lifespan continuing to increase, many analysts expect a nursing shortage by 2024. That may help explain why nursing is expected at the top of the list for job growth in Indiana over the next six years.

Locally, both Howard Regional Health System and St. Joseph Hospital are actively working to prevent a shortage. A plus is that both Ivy Tech and Indiana University Kokomo offer nursing classes.

“It is an ongoing effort to recruit nurses,” said Michael Williams, vice president for professional administrative services at Howard Regional. “Registered nurses are generally the benchmark. We’re faring well.”

Williams said nationally, the number of nursing vacancies is 8.5 percent. In Indiana, it is 4.7 percent and at Howard the vacancy rate has averaged 2.6 percent. He said of 338 nursing positions, there are nine current vacancies.

“We are competing at the state level for nurses,” Williams said. “We do national searches at the chief nurse executive level, they are difficult to come by.”

Kathy Peoples, vice president of nursing at St. Joseph Hospital, said it is always a struggle to recruit and retain the nursing staff.

“There was not a lot of options for women in the past,” she said of a nursing profession.

Peoples said St. Joseph has a lot of nurses that have been on the staff for many years but there is always churn with people retiring and looking for new opportunities.

The hospitals in Howard County trade nurses back and forth with the Indianapolis metropolitan area, he said.

“Right now our biggest competition is Clarian,” Williams said.

When Howard opened its open heart surgery program, a lot of nurses were recruited from hospitals in Marion County, he added.

“We emphasize the community benefits, particularly when recruiting at the national level,” Williams said. “Marketing the Midwest family values has been successful.

“Kokomo is a big draw,” he said. “People like the proximity to the northside of Indianapolis.”

Peoples said the Human Resources Department does a good job of letting potential candidates know what is available in the Kokomo area in terms of quality-of-life issues.

“The further you’re away from a metropolitan areas, the nurses live where they work,” she said.

Howard Regional offers a sign-on and retention bonus in effort to recruit and keep nurses on staff. The hospital also provides paid tuition for additional training for nurses.

Williams said the hospital offers flexible scheduling which includes the option of working only on weekends.

Another draw is the adding of new programs, which is attractive to nurses who want to expand their skills, he said.

Peoples said St. Joseph offers a flexible work schedule and tries to be competitive in terms of salary and benefits based on the need of each potential employee.

“We match the need of the hospital with the need of the nurses,” she said. “If they want to work an eight-hour or 12-hour shift, we try to accommodate those needs.”

Peoples said nursing shortages do happen on occasion and St. Joseph is working on future need projections and to begin planning for the retirement of some nurses.

“We are going to structure the job so that older workers can do them,” she said. “We want to keep people in the workplace in the future. Technology is making the whole job easier.”

A problem is the aging population among active nurses who are nearing retirement age.

“That is a concern for any hospital,” Williams said. “The average age of registered nurses is 47 and there are projects that 55 percent will return in the next 10 years.”

With an aging population there will be more of a demand for nurses, he said.

“When retired nurses express an interest in working part time or on-call, we allow them to do that,” Williams noted. “It is a blessing when they return because of the experience they bring.”

What is taking place in the Midwest has already started on both coasts, according to Williams.

“It is alarming the possible impact on Kokomo,” he said. “We’re trying to be pro-active and think outside the box. The educational programs we have locally helps.”

Sue Hendricks, interim chair at the IUK School of Nursing, said enrollment has been steady at the school.

“High schools are not nudging students toward nursing,” she said. “The role of nurses is under-recognized in the popular media. When you watch a medical show on television they are showing physicians doing everything. There are many professions in the hospital that are never seen.”

Lynda Narwold, director of the RN program at IUK, said it is a difficult and stressful career.

“It takes a special person to be a nurse,” she said.

Hendricks said a problem not being discussed is that there is a shortage of nursing teachers and those in the teaching professional are nearing retirement age.

“Faculty salaries are low compared to what can be made in the private medical field,” she said. “It has not kept pace.”

The number of teachers is a limiting factor in the number of students a school can accept into the nursing programs, according to Narwold.

Hendricks said the number of nursing students graduating meets the needs of Howard County.

“It is an open market for jobs,” she said. “A registered nurse is not going to be unemployed, unless they want to be.”

Narwold said a nurse can find their niche in the job market and it doesn’t have to be in a hospital.

Williams said Howard works with area high schools and a lot of students are interested in the medical field.

“In five or six years from now, nurses will be able to right their own ticket,” he said.

Peoples said enrollment in nursing schools appears to be on the increase and the hospital is getting into the high schools and informing students that nursing is a good profession and that it is easy to find a job.

“Nurses can find a job anywhere,” she said. “There are always positions being advertised in the newspaper. It is a good career. I can’t imagine the day a nurse can’t find a job.”

Ken de la Bastide can be reached at (765) 454 -8580 or via e-mail at ken.delabastide@ kokomotribune.com