The need to reverse Louisiana’s healthcare workforce shortage has grown more urgent as waves of seasoned nurses prepare to retire and nursing schools struggle to train enough healthcare professionals to fill existing job opportunities. Thousands of qualified applicants have been denied nursing school admission because of capacity challenges during the last decade. Meanwhile, experts warn that more than 15,000 of Louisiana’s most seasoned nurses could retire by 2028.
Fortunately, hospitals and healthcare providers have partnered with schools in every region to expand and accelerate workforce training programs. These include dual-enrollment programs that empower younger students to enter high-wage, high-demand nursing careers within a year of high school graduation. Other partnerships offer healthcare apprenticeship programs for employees who can upskill and earn while they learn. Some partnerships rely on hospital-employed nurses who serve as faculty to help local nursing schools enroll and graduate more students.
This year, I introduced House Bill 329 to help expand these partnerships statewide without requiring additional state dollars. The bill, which would increase workforce investments with matching contributions by healthcare industry employers, passed the House of Representatives unanimously and is now moving through the Senate.
As Gov. Jeff Landry’s transition team wrote, “Our communities are still struggling to stabilize and boost their healthcare workforce. Louisiana needs to get out of the business of saying no to innovation. We need physicians and nurses to take care of the generations to come, and we cannot do that if we can’t graduate, recruit and retain talent.”
Addressing Louisiana’s workforce shortages requires a comprehensive and sustained effort by state officials, educational institutions, hospitals and community partners to increase class sizes and graduation rates, address practical barriers for students and retain more healthcare professionals in the great jobs across this state. Please support HB 329 for students, healthcare professionals, employers and patients.
BRACH J. MYERS
state representative, District 45