Sen. Daughtry introduces bill to increase Maine’s nursing workforce
AUGUSTA — On Tuesday, Sen. Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick, introduced a bill to grow Maine’s nursing workforce by investing in nursing education programs. LD 1807, “An Act To Expand Nursing Education Programs,” was the subject of a public hearing before the Legislature’s Education and Cultural Affairs Committee.
“Years of nursing staffing shortages have put our hospitals in a tough spot, which has only become more severe during the pandemic. Nurses make up the largest portion of the health care workforce, with jobs opening every day and not nearly enough trained professionals to fill them. Millions of nurses are of retiring age, stress and burnout has only worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a lack of nursing faculty makes it harder and harder to train up new nurses,” said Sen. Daughtry. “Just in Maine, we’re looking at a possibility of a workforce shortage of 3,200 nurses by 2025. One of the ways we can combat this problem is by enrolling more students in nursing programs and giving the community colleges more resources to dedicate toward nursing programs.”
LD 1807 would allocate ongoing funds to the Maine Community College System to expand their nursing education program to hire more faculty as well as enroll more students. Without nursing programs that are consistently enrolling students, Maine will not meet its workforce demands. Ensuring that nurses live and work in Maine starts with helping them get their degrees right here, which means there is a real need to invest in public nursing programs and support faculty at state schools.
“Increasing the number of nursing seats available to Maine’s residents is a benefit to the state’s healthcare providers and the livelihood of Maine citizens. The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates the average salary for registered nurses in Maine ranges from $56,000 to $78,000. Demand for nurses is causing the average salary to increase rapidly. Expanding our nursing programs creates an opportunity for more Mainers to train for meaningful, good-paying jobs,” said David Daigler, President of the Maine Community College System, in testimony supporting the bill.
“This year I have been inundated with requests from employers seeking to hire our nursing graduates,” said Kathleen McManus, chair of the nursing program at Central Maine Community College, in testimony supporting the bill. “Each year we experience nearly 100% job placement for our nursing graduates. Our graduates are able to obtain great paying nursing jobs with benefits. In my experience, most graduates, if not all, stay locally in the same facilities where they did their clinicals. Increasing enrollment in nursing programs is an investment that will not only benefit the healthcare industry, but as importantly, benefit the citizens of Maine.”
LD 1807 is also supported by the Maine Nursing Action Coalition, the Maine Nurse Practitioner Coalition and Northern Light Health.
The bill faces further action in committee.