Guest Columnist | Just what the nurse ordered?

Back in January, Gov. Ed Rendell announced his "Prescription for Pennsylvania," a comprehensive plan aimed at making quality health care accessible and affordable for all, particularly for low-income residents.

Last Friday, in the School of Nursing's Fagin Hall, Rendell signed some of the first such pieces of legislation.

Included were several bills geared toward increasing the responsibilities of health care workers, including physician's assistants, registered nurses and nurse midwives.

In the Commonwealth, such professionals have been unable to practice at the level to which they are trained, unlike in other states.

"Pennsylvania consistently lags behind other states in fully utilizing licensed health care providers that are not physicians," reads a blurb from the Governor's Plan.

Hopefully, Rendell's plan will make this no longer the case.

Registered nurses will be able to order medical equipment and make referrals for physical and occupational therapy, for example.

Meanwhile, nurse midwives with proper training will be able to write prescriptions for their patients in collaboration with a physician.

Furthermore, the plan will allow more patients to be seen by "providing start-up resources for federally qualified health centers and nurse-managed care centers that can provide ongoing, regular care, particularly in shortage areas."

"These pieces of legislation . really highlight the important work that advanced practice nurses can do in this state," said Eileen Sullivan-Marx, an associate dean in the Nursing school.

On the surface, Prescription for Pennsylvania seems like it will positively impact hundreds of thousands of residents who currently get poor, or no, health care.

But what about the people entrusted with carrying out this initiative?

Nurses and medical assistants are the backbone of Rendell's plan to fix Pennsylvania's health care. But is it sturdy enough to support the plan?

Take the nursing population. According to statistics on American Nursing Association's Web site, there will be a national shortage of over a million nurses by the end of this decade, primarily due to a growing need for health care.

Marx said that the scope of practice bills are a partial solution.

"Hospitals are where the nursing shortage is," she said, and allowing nurses to give appropriate care decreases the likelihood of hospitalization.

"Part of what has happened is that we aren't taking care of preventing things from happening, and then people need hospital care," Marx said.

And there's more good news: Rising applications for baccalaureate nursing programs suggest there is a growing interest in the nursing profession.

The high demand for good nurses means salary incentives and the ability to work practically anywhere the country.

Additionally, after four years of college, nurses are ready to start practicing. Some continue on in their education, but they aren't forced into the years of school and training that doctors face.

High-schoolers and incoming freshmen with an interest in medicine would do well to consider a career in nursing.

Unfortunately, the bad news is that is that they might not get admitted to the appropriate programs.

According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, while nursing baccalaureate programs increased by five percent from 2005 to 2006, over 32,000 qualified applicants were turned away that same year, primarily because of a shortage in nursing educators.

Penn Nursing, for example, admitted 120 students, less than half the applicant pool, to the Class of 2011.

Let's not forget that Rendell, a Penn alum, chose Fagin Hall as a backdrop for both Friday's signing and his original Prescription for Pennsylvania announcement.

Marx speculates that Rendell wanted to take his initiative "right to the heart of nursing," recognizing a "leading home of nursing science" in his very own state.

And indeed, Rendell has actively pursued a multi-million dollar budget increase in funding for nursing education programs.

The pieces are in the right place. But for the plan to be a success, the state government must ensure that the strengthening of Pennsylvania's nurses and the expansion of their educational opportunities happen concurrently.

No easy task, indeed.

Rendell has written a prescription for Pennsylvania, but in the end it will be the health care profession that determines whether the state can swallow its own medicine.

Anne Dobson is a College senior from Seattle, Wash. and is assignments editor of 'The Daily Pennsylvanian.' Her e-mail address is adobson@sas.upenn.edu.

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