Nursing programs in the California State University system are slated to receive $3.6 million in funds from the recently signed state budget.

Even with the increase, Dean of the College of Health and Human Services Marilyn Hopkins is skeptical that the money will mean anything significant for Sacramento State’s nursing program. She said that since the budget is contingent on federal stimulus money and the special election, the money might not actually become available.

“Regardless of what the budget says, I haven’t seen any money. I’ve not been called and given any money yet,” Hopkins said.

The budget allocates an additional $3.6 million to the CSU to fund an additional cohort of 340 undergraduate nursing enrollments.

If the state comes through with the $3.6 million, Hopkins said that the money would be minimal. Eighteen schools within the CSU system have nursing programs, each costing a couple million dollars. She said that dividing the money between those 18 schools will not amount to much.

Hopkins added that Sac State’s nursing program is underfunded based on the national standard for nursing students by about $5,000 per student.

Because of this underfunding, Sac State’s nursing program drastically limits the number of applicants admitted into the program.

President of the Sac State Chapter of the California Nursing Students Association Stephanie Criddle said the nursing program receives anywhere from 400 to 500 applicants each semester. The program only has the funding to admit 40 to 60 applicants each semester with about 350 students in the whole program.

“Sacramento State receives a lot of flack for rejecting exceptionally qualified students, even some with 4.0 GPAs,” Criddle said.

She also said that the nursing program has expected cuts in funding. The division of nursing has planned on cutting its accelerated second bachelor’s of science in nursing program, a fast track program for students who already have a bachelor’s degree in something else.

Along with the high impaction rate, a nursing student’s education is more costly than other majors because of the required clinicals and labs.

Sac State’s Division of Nursing chair Ann Stoltz said that 50 percent of a nursing student’s course work is completed in clinicals and labs. For a two-unit clinical, nursing students spend about six to eight hours per week in a hospital.

On top of that, Criddle said hospitals mandate one faculty member for every 10 nursing students during clinicals and labs, significantly lower than the average student teacher ratio of 21 to 1.

“The reason is not because nursing majors are better,” Criddle said. “The reason is for patient safety.”

Criddle said that many of the procedures preformed in hospitals, such as administering medication, could potentially put a human life at risk if it is done incorrectly.

“If a nursing major messes up, they could accidentally kill someone,” Criddle said.

Though Hopkins has her doubts concerning the money, she said that over the past five years the state has been focusing on nursing education.

Along with the money for the CSU, the 2009-10 state budget includes $1.1 million for the University of California system to fund 50 new undergraduate nursing and 42 new master’s level nursing enrollments.

Gary Reichard, the CSU’s executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer, said that even in these tough economic times, the state’s nursing shortage remains a high priority for the governor and the CSU board of trustees.

He added that the additional funding for nursing will be distributed to those schools that have demonstrated the ability to enroll additional nursing students with existing funding.

According to a study from the California Institute for Nursing & Health Care, in 2005 California hospitals reported an average 12 percent vacancy rate of registered nurses, with a statewide shortage of 16,000 nurses.

Having vacancy rates like that, Stoltz said, means nurses work double time, impeding their ability to give patients the best possible care.

“You can’t do double the workload and expect good quality,” Stoltz said.

Hopkins said nursing vacancy rates in hospitals dictate how many patients they can care for. If a hospital doesn’t have enough nurses, it cannot care for as many patients.

Those numbers are good for graduating nursing majors. Stoltz said that some graduates received $5,000 signing bonuses during peaks in the nursing shortage.

The institute expects that by 2010, California’s statewide nursing shortage will be at 47,000.

Linda Daniels, service director of Adult Medicine at the Hayward Medical Center, said that the nurse vacancy rate at hospitals will rise because of retirements. She said that a majority of nurses are older, and they will retire within the coming years.

The institute sets the average age for nurses at 47 years old.

As of now, Stoltz said that the Sacramento area nursing vacancy rate is at 3 percent. A rate where nursing students are having a hard time finding jobs at preferable hospitals and during preferable shifts.

Hopkins stressed the point saying, “When I started, I worked on the night shift and it didn’t kill me. Our students will be fine.”

Michael Mette can be reached at [email protected].