Maine needs approximately 1,000 more registered nurses now; by 2010, it will need 1,700 more RNs unless something dramatic happens; and by 2020, it will need 5,000 more, nearly a third of the total needed. The effect on the quality of patient care is unavoidable without significant action, so an effort recently to attract more students to health care was a crucial start on what must become an even larger undertaking as the shortage becomes more acute.

The shortage of nurses is a nationwide problem with clear origins: long-term declines in the number of nursing graduates, both associate and baccalaureate, an aging nurse work force and an increase in demand for services as the general population ages too. The shortage anticipated for Maine in a study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services last year is typical of the problem, which is expected to affect at least 44 states and means that simply trying to attract nurses from other states will become even less successful over time. (And it’s no better elsewhere: The National Health Service in Britain yesterday reported that the lack of trained nurses and radiographers, among others, was the system’s biggest challenge.)

The agreement in Maine among the state’s Community College System, the Maine Hospital Association and Anthem creates two programs, each to receive $200,000. One targets specific shortages in underserved rural areas with a nursing partnership between Eastern Maine Community College and Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover-Foxcroft and a radiology program to be developed by Northern Maine Community College. A second program creates 100 scholarships for traditional students studying health care at any of the seven community colleges. Students can receive up to $1,000 a year through the scholarship, about half the total tuition cost.

The money matters, and not just during college. Nursing salaries have increased steadily for 20 years, but the increases nationally have been so small that for the last decade they have been essentially flat after inflation. In addition, the pay is falling farther behind such careers as teaching elementary school, where starting employees earned an average of $4,400 more per year. The DHHS study noted, “As their potential for increased earnings diminishes over time, staff nurses may be motivated to leave patient care for additional education and/or other careers in nursing or outside the profession.”

NurseWeek magazine participated in a study of more than 4,000 nurses nationwide and recently reported that in addition to better compensation, nurses also are looking for an improved work environment, improved hours and more respect from management. Simply being able to hire more nurses may help with environment and hours; the desire for more respect from management provides an important opening for administrators to improve retention.

Maine will know in a year or two whether the funding will make a significant difference in the state’s health-worker shortage. Legislators especially will want to keep on eye on it and find more funding to expand the program if it proves successful.