Dean Nolan was invited by Chairwoman Christina Henderson, Chair of the DC Council Committee on Health, to participate in a roundtable discussion about the end of the COVID Public Health Emergency.
In her opening remarks she discussed the recent data published by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing which concluded that, for the first time in 22 years, applicants to colleges of nursing have declined. She highlighted the ways Catholic University and the Conway School of Nursing are actively working to address the healthcare workforce shortage. Nolan emphasized that the current nursing shortage is a combination of early retirement, pandemic fatigue, and the lack of qualified nursing faculty. Chairwoman Henderson and Councilmember Parker found the data on insufficient faculty troubling and were curious to understand more about the implications on the workforce. According to Nolan, the best way to solve this current crisis is to strengthen the pipeline from high school, past bachelors, and to promote and encourage graduate-level education. The most efficient way to strengthen the pipeline is through strong public/private partnerships and increased funding.
Panelists:
- Robin Rudowitz, Vice President and Director for the Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured at The Kaiser Family Foundation
- Joan Alker, Research Professor at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy and Executive Director of the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute Center for Children and Families
- Marie Nolan, Dean and Ordinary Professor of the Conway School of Nursing at The Catholic University of America
- Hugh Mighty, Senior Vice President for Health Affairs at Howard University and former Dean of the Howard University College of Medicine
