New Indiana law aims to address state’s nursing shortage

HAMMOND, INDIANA (CBS) – A new law kicked in Indiana aims at increasing the number of nurses in the state to address what health care workers call a critical shortage.

The goal is to help nursing programs accept more students and eventually increase the workforce. CBS 2’s Tim McNicholas went to Franciscan Health in Hammond to see how it will work.

Ina Hodges of Franciscan Health said thanks to the new law , said she hopes the new law will encourage more students to enroll in the state’s nursing schools.

“We’re pretty excited about it because it’s gonna open the pipeline for us,” Hodges said.

Indiana nurses still need to train in a hospital with real patients, known in the medical field as clinical training. But now schools can substitute up to 50% of their clinical hours with simulation hours, with mannequins and computers.

Unlike clinicals, simulations don’t require a nursing instructor onsite, which are also in short supply, so it could allow schools to expand their capacity.

“The program will take the same amount of time, but the volume of students they can accommodate at the schools will increase,” Hodges said. “We are in a severe nursing shortage, and we need to do have those nurses.”

There are about 4,300 nursing openings in Indiana. The Indiana Hospital Association said the state will still need about 5,000 more nurses by 2031.

“I think nurses are just stretched very thin,” said Hodges.

The simulation hours make up just one part of the law, which also allows associate degree nursing programs in state schools to hire more part-time instructors. Hodges said it’s a step in the right direction, but she knows the shortage isn’t going away any time soon.

“I’m just proud of my profession because our nurses have risen greatly to the challenge,” she said.

Franciscan Health also offers an internship program aimed at recruiting and training as many nurses as they can.