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Hospitals and nursing schools in northeast Mississippi are "finding creative ways" to address a nurse shortage affecting the U.S., the AP/Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports. Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi in Oxford and the North Mississippi Medical Center-Tupelo have joined together to fund nursing faculty positions and are working with the University of Mississippi to establish a satellite nursing program at its Oxford campus, which would add 20 additional slots annually for nursing education in the region. The Mississippi Legislature also approved a $6,000 pay increase for nursing faculty and has said it would consider allocating an additional $6,000 next year. In addition, NMMC hosts several nursing education programs for grade- to high-school students and earlier this month held a nursing expo that drew more than 500 participants. Baptist Memorial Hospital also makes its lab accessible to Lafayette County Allied Health students and sends nurses to speak with students and guidance counselors about the field. The average registered nurse vacancy in northeastern Mississippi is 3% to 5%, compared with a national rate of 8.5% and a state average of 7.9%. However, vacancy rates in some parts of the state are nearly 20%. Mississippi has 40 vacant full-time faculty positions at community college and university nursing programs -- a rate of 8.9%, according to the Mississippi Office of Nursing Workforce. That number is expected to increase to 35.5% between 2008 and 2009. Ricki Garrett, executive director of Mississippi Nurses Association, said, "We're going to have to do a lot more than we're doing now. We're already turning away 2,300 qualified applicants to nursing school" (AP/Clarion Ledger, 11/20). You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
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