Inaugural Kansas Nursing Workforce Report Sheds Light on Unemployment, Staffing Shortages

• The Kansas Nursing Workforce Center was established in 2023 and released its first “State of Nursing in Kansas” report this month.
• The report found that more than 70% of registered nurses in Kansas were unemployed due to caregiving obligations.
• It also stressed the state will continue to have a workforce shortage, in part, due to expected retirements in the next five years.

More than 70% of registered nurses in Kansas are unemployed so they can care for a family member. 

That’s according to the inaugural “State of Nursing in Kansas” report from the recently formed Kansas Nursing Workforce Center. 

“This is very different from the national survey,” said Amy Garcia, DNP, FAAN, associate clinical professor at the University of Kansas (KU) School of Nursing. “And when we dug deeper, we found that this was consistent for Kansas nurses for nearly 10 years. This needs to be studied further. Could something as simple as childcare or eldercare be deployed to entice nurses back to work?” 

Other Key Kansas Nursing Findings

Kansas RNs were found less likely to be actively employed in the industry than the national sample. Additional reasons for unemployment in Kansas, compared to the national survey, include: 

• COVID-19 pandemic (31% vs. 22.6%) 
• Inadequate salary (14.2% vs. 11.9%) 
• School (6.7% vs. 9.5%) 
• Difficulty finding a position (4.7% vs. 10.7%) 
• Disabled (0% vs. 7.2%) 

The report highlighted nursing unemployment, employment plans, hours worked per week, and demographic data, among other statistics compared to the 2022 National Nursing Workforce Survey. 

“We saw a direct correlation that was measurable and significant,” Garcia said. “The Kansans living in counties with fewer nurses have a lower quality of life and die younger. Simply put: The number of nurses matters to the health and well-being of Kansans.” 

That said, shortages are expected to continue in the state, as 29% of RNs and 23% of licensed practical nurses plan to retire within five years, the survey found. 

Nurses throughout the state have made public their concerns about current staffing issues.  

In March, nurses at Research Medical Center (Kansas City, Kansas) and Menorah Medical Center (Overland Park) rallied as part of contract negotiations in which they asked for increased staffing and better working conditions. A few months later, Wichita nurses walked out of Ascension Via Christi St. Francis, alleging unsafe conditions.

Addison Stover, a certified nurse assistant studying at KU, wrote for the Topeka Capital-Journal in support of increasing staffing standards in nursing homes. She said staffing shortages have forced workers into a balancing act between “our genuine desire to provide compassionate care and the harsh reality of being stretched thin.”

“The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has mercilessly laid bare the vulnerabilities of our health care system,” she wrote. “The chronic shortage of staff has transformed our noble profession into a high-stakes gamble, where the odds are stacked against us, and the stakes are the well-being of Kansas nursing home residents. The burden on health care workers, especially those like me working in nursing homes, has reached an unprecedented level of stress.”

Forming the Kansas Nursing Workforce Center

The Kansas Nursing Workforce Center was established in 2023, eliminating it from the list of 10 states without such a center. Garcia stated in a news release that the center will “do things that matter,” such as helping people becomes nurses, studying supply and demand within in the industry, and collaborating with schools, employers, and other entities to “resolve the ongoing shortage of nurses.” 

The center is housed at KU’s School of Nursing, but will address statewide issues. 

“As we saw the growing crisis of nurse and nurse educator shortages, we knew something had to be done to address this in a unified and collaborative manner,” Sally L. Maliski, Ph.D., FAAN, dean of KU School School of Nursing, stated in the release. 

The Bottom Line

The Kansas Nursing Workforce Center, formed in 2023, released its first state of nursing report. Among its findings was the revelation that more than 70% of unemployed nurses are not working because they are caring for a family member. The report also reinforced hypotheses that fewer nurses led to lower quality of life for Kansas and called attention to the state’s continued workforce shortage. 

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