Healthcare Workforce Data
Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action
Key Message #4: Effective workforce planning and policy making require better data collection and an improved information infrastructure.
Planning for fundamental, wide-ranging changes in the preparation and deployment of the nursing workforce will require comprehensive data on the numbers and types of professionals currently available and required to meet future needs. Such data are needed across the health professions if a fundamental transformation of the health care system is to be achieved.
Major gaps exist in currently available workforce data. Filling these gaps should be a priority for the National Health Workforce Commission and other structures and resources authorized under the Affordable Care Act.
12/02/11 The NJ Action Coalition, Future of Nursing 1st Year Progress Meeting recommendations for Meeting the Need for Better Data on the Health Care Workforce as outlined within the Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action
Goals:
- Use the IOM chapters 6 and 7, and Appendix F as a basis.
- Short-term: identify national workforce data collection models.
- Long-term: build a business case for private/public partnership funding for New Jersey infrastructure for collection and analysis of healthcare workforce data.
Achievements:
- Learned from the nursing model for workforce data collection to inform our broader charge for healthcare workforce data collection models.
- Conducted a national survey for 35 state data center models.
- Summarized the findings from the state data centers.
- Developed a case statement for the healthcare workforce data center for New Jersey.
Next Steps:
- Validation for the need of a New Jersey healthcare workforce data center.
- Identify a host/sponsor agency such as an academic center for state health policy.
- Develop a minimum data set format and develop networks with larger state initiatives regarding workforce planning.