A closer look -- Hoag finds the right Rx for nursing shortage

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- When Scott Surico graduated in May with an

associate’s degree in nursing, finding a job didn’t really concern him.

While those entering the work force in preceding years had struggled

to get employment, Surico and about 80% of his class at Huntington

Beach’s Golden West College knew where they were going weeks before

graduation.

The 30-year-old registered nurse now works at Hoag Hospital’s

orthopedic and neurology ward.

At first, Surico’s experience might sound like a result of a booming

economy that lowers unemployment.

But Hoag’s chief nurse and other health care professionals see things

differently and hold California’s nursing shortage responsible instead.

Ranking last in the nation in terms of the number of nurses per

100,000 population, half of the state’s nurses come from other parts of

the country, said Rick Martin, Hoag’s vice president of patient care

services and chief nursing administrator.

While stiff competition with other professions plays a role in the

state’s mounting health care crisis, Martin said California’s nursing

schools simply don’t have the resources to educate more nurses.

Linda Stevens, dean of math, sciences and health professions at Golden

West College, agreed.

“We have more applicants to our program than we are able to admit,”

she said, adding that California will need an additional 25,000 nurses by

2006. “The resources are not here to admit more.”

Although Hoag hasn’t experienced major problems in hiring enough

nurses, Martin said a need clearly exists to prepare for the future.

LURING PROSPECTS

The place to look for possible nursing candidates is junior high and

high school, Martin said.

“These are the individuals I’m going to need in five years,” he said.

As a result, Hoag sends recruiters to schools all over Orange County

to get students excited about the health care field.

Standing in front of two dozen students at Irvine High School

recently, Michael Yates, who works in Hoag’s recruiting department, began

his pitch with a simple question.

“Is there anyone in this room considering going into the nursing

profession?” he asked.

Apart from Mary Wong, who is a registered nurse in Hoag’s radiology

department and came along to talk about her experience, all hands

remained down.

“You don’t count,” Yates said, turning to Wong.

Initially, the students seemed skeptical about even listening to the

visitors.

“I noticed that some of these guys just passed that nursing info

along,” Wong said after a few boys near the front didn’t bother to look

at her handouts.

But once Wong began sharing her own story with the group, ears started

to perk up slightly more.

“I’ve seen somebody die in front of my face and I’ve seen somebody

live because of something I did,” she said. “Once you’ve experienced

saving someone’s life, it really masks the rest.”

Sure, situations have come up that have pushed her to the limit, Wong

said.

During her practical training in college, she once was assigned to a

lockup ward for the criminally insane.

“And what an experience that was,” she said. “I was sitting in the

bathroom, thinking, ‘I can’t go out there and deal with these people any

more.’ ”

Wong then picked up medical tools she brought to give students an idea

of what her work involves and was right back on track about praising her

job.

“We can save your life in 15 minutes,” she said, holding a tiny piece

of wire in her hand that looked like the spikes of an umbrella.

“All we need to do it put one of these little babies in,” she said.

“It keeps blood clots from moving from the legs to the lung and heart.”

Senior Juliet Womack, 17, seemed drawn to a larger object on the

table.

“How do you stick that gun thing in?” she asked with a worried

expression on her face.

“Don’t worry,” Wong responded, taking the instrument in one hand. “If

I’m coming at you with one of these babies, I’ll give you a lot of drugs.

You won’t know what hit you. I can suck your appendix out with this.”

Womack seemed unsure whether she really had to know all that much.

“That’s gross!” she said.

After Wong wrapped up her presentation, Yates hit the students with

some hard numbers.

“Wherever you guys want to go, I can guarantee you that there is a job

there waiting for you,” he said, adding that typical salaries range from

$18 per hour to six-digit annual pay checks for hospital executives.

Still, Womack, who plans to become an FBI investigator, and her

classmates said they probably would not choose nursing as a career.

“I want to be a doctor,” said Omar Ragpute, an 18-year-old senior.

“When [Wong] talked about saving people’s lives -- that sounds great.”

Carson Morehouse, a 15-year-old junior, said his own hospital

experience as a result of a kidney problem had turned him away from

considering health care for good.

“I can’t stand what they do,” he said. “ ‘Cause I’ve had it all done

to me and it’s not nice. I can’t do it to somebody after knowing what it

feels like.”

Wrapping things up by handing out key chains with a plastic, blue

surfboard adorned with Hoag’s logo, Yates said that after a little over

two years of visiting schools it is still too early to rate the program’s

success.

“We don’t have a tracking mechanism,” he said, adding that some job

applicants straight out of college stated that they had become aware of

the hospital through guest speaking engagements.

EMPLOYEE BONUSES

Back at Hoag, Martin said hospital officials have come up with ideas

internally to attract -- and keep -- nurses.

Hoag has introduced an incentives scheme that rewards employees for

recruiting new nurses, he said.

The $2,000 bonus gets split in two, with the first check coming after

the new recruit stays for six months, the second after a year, Martin

said, adding that 35 employees have received the money so far.

So-called “new graduate programs” help new employees to ease into the

job by alternating time on the ward with classes for the first few weeks.

Marilyn Maric, who joined Hoag in February 1999 to work in the

oncology ward, said the program had made her transition from college to

the hospital a whole lot smoother.

The program “made a big difference,” said Maric, who graduated with an

associate’s degree from Golden West College.

“We had a lot of feedback and still, even after almost a year, you can

ask experienced nurses questions.”

Maric said she went into nursing “blindly” without knowing much about

the profession. She said she is happy with her position now but can see

herself going back to school at some point to obtain a bachelor’s degree.

Sitting in the break room on the nursing tower’s ninth floor, Surico

said he plans to return to school in September.

He said he plans to study for bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Cal

State Dominguez Hills while continuing to work at Hoag.

What will happen then is still up in the air, Surico said, adding that

he has been interested in nursing ever since he cared for his disabled

parents.

Becoming a nurse practitioner in pediatrics or family medicine is one

option, he said. Lobbying legislators to reform California’s health care

system as a member of the American Nursing Assn. also interests him.

“Some people want to make money,” he said. “Some people want to have

fun. Some people want to hear a thank you. And that’s kind of where I’m

at.”