> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Symptoms of nursing shortage recognized by local hospitals - URL: https://www.smdp.com/symptoms-of-nursing-shortage-recognized-by-local-hospitals/ - Published: 2004-01-21T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T03:36:31.000Z - Author: Carolyn Sackariason - Tags: Health, Santa Monica, #archive-import *Bonuses, ongoing education offered to entice nurses* While the state continues to feel the pain of a widespread nursing shortage, Santa Monica hospitals have met the challenge by recruiting and retaining skilled professionals. It’s been noted as a crisis since at least 1998 when it became apparent that fewer people were entering the profession and colleges began eliminating nursing programs, said Mary Ellen Blakley, a nurse at Saint John’s Health Care Center and the vice president of patient services. California is ranked as the 49th worst state as far as the number of nurses, just behind Nevada. In 2000, the state was short about 13,000 nurses, by 2005, that number is estimated to be 20,000 and in 2010, it will grow to 42,000, Blakley said. The reasons for the shortage are plenty — fewer people are interested in the profession, the workforce and patient base is aging, and there is a decrease in the availability of nursing programs. But Saint John’s and Santa Monica- UCLA Medical Center are nearly at full staff. Even though statewide nursing ratios effective Jan. 1 require no more than two patients per nurse, both hospitals have met those ratios for at least a year. The ratios help prevent nurses from burning out, as well as ensuring proper treatment for patients. “It’s the right thing to do for the patient’s safety,” Blakley said, adding nursing ratios at Saint John’s have been in place for at least 18 months. At Santa Monica-ULCA, the hospital has a strong commitment to recruiting local RN graduates, but also finds potential employees at nursing schools throughout the country, said Robin Ludwig, director of recruitment at UCLA. She added that UCLA hires about 100 new graduates a year. Hospital officials have to travel around the country to find recent RN graduates because there are few universities in the state that offer nursing programs. UCLA and the University of Southern California both have recently closed their undergraduate nursing programs. UCLA does offer a graduate program, however. “To become a nurse, you have to leave the state — it’s appalling,” Ludwig said. “Not having enough programs is a huge hole in our state.” Many students are forced to attend community college first and then travel out of state. In an ongoing effort to help ease California’s nursing shortage, Santa Monica College has joined forces with UCLA to train vocational nurses and entry-level health professionals to move into higher level nursing positions. SMC has a $102,000 contract with UCLA Medical Center to train some 20 vocational nurses to become registered nurses and a similar $188,000 contract with Cedars-Sinai Hospital. SMC also was recently awarded a $485,000 contract with the state to provide training of entry-level health professionals — such as nursing aides — to become certified nursing assistants. The contracts mark a major step forward for SMC’s nursing program, which until recently has been able to serve only about 80 students at one time. SMC’s student nursing population is now expected to grow substantially over the coming years. UCLA and Cedars-Sinai are bolstering their nursing staffs by offering SMC’s program to their vocational nurses and nursing assistants. The practitioners can fulfill some of the functions of nurses but, without the additional training, do not qualify as registered nurses able to assist in medical procedures. At the other hospitals, the SMC career ladder program will move nursing assistants and other entry-level health professionals into higher-level positions. SMC’s program is part of a concerted statewide effort between California community colleges and hospitals to remedy the acute national shortage of nurses that has already graduated 20,000 new nurses over the past five years. Although salaries for nurses — they start at about $25 an hour — have remained relatively flat for the past decade, local hospitals offer more than the average. “What we’ve seen here are the number of vacancies have gone down and our retention rate is good,” Blakley said. “We try to make nursing an attractive profession.” Saint John’s recruits nurses by offering them night shifts, three-day work weeks, scholarships for extended education and sign-on bonuses. At Santa Monica-UCLA, the hospital offers new recruits one-year residencies, higher education opportunities — UCLA will pay two-thirds toward the tuition for master’s degree studies — and works with nurses to expand their knowledge and skills through ongoing education. “Any nurse that comes to us can do whatever they want in six months to a year. We continue to grow on our own,” Ludwig said. “You can do that as an educational institution.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 21, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/012104.pdf?ref=smdp.com)