A shortage of qualified nurses is occurring nationwide, in Colorado and the Northern Colorado region. Recognizing the need for acute nursing talent, Larimer County Economic and Workforce Development (LCEWD) received a grant from the Economic Development Administration to fund a nursing shortage program manager position for the next three years.
The position will help connect various training institutions with our healthcare system and may assist sector partners to identify potential funding streams and opportunities to assist with solutions to the nursing shortage in Northern Colorado.
Introducing Carol Salter, Nursing Shortage Program Manager
Carol Salter joins LCEWD as the first Nursing Shortage Program Manager. Salter brings 26 years of healthcare leadership experience to the position with a deep commitment to the Northern Colorado region.
Personally, Carol holds a Master of Science in Health Care Administration and is a continuing student of healthcare policy, Notary Law, history, current politics, and her own Scandinavian and Celtic heritage. She is married to artist, RM Salter and they have one daughter, Gabrielle, son in law Nathan and grandson Silas and another grandson to arrive in July. Carol enjoys searching for the “perfect” breakfast diner and will go to great lengths to find it.
Carol's First Year
Carol has spent the first year of her role in discovery. In her first year because of conversations with healthcare leadership, she has successfully produced, through the Northern Colorado Health Sector Partnership Nurse Consortium, a Nurse Well Being conference attended by over 150 nurses. This was done to address retention and engagement as identified as a need by healthcare systems in NOCO.
She has interviewed over a hundred healthcare leaders in Northern Colorado to understand their position and challenges.
She has worked with academic institutions to learn about their processes and the challenges they face with declining enrollment, lack of faculty and clinical rotation resources.
She has reviewed the current legislative landscape and how regulatory agencies impact academic partners and licensure.
She has testified on proposed legislation that will address equity for those who wish to go into nursing but have been financially prohibited.
She has also worked on healthcare workforce housing issues. She has interviewed systems who have built workforce housing, identified potential partners and sites, and is currently working with several banking institutions to offer a housing product for the nursing workforce.
Carol's Second Year
In year two, Carol began work with Gig nursing, researching the viability of it and promoting the concept to NOCO health systems in both acute and long-term care. She is also working on re-engaging retired nurses or those who have left nursing early to come back to their profession. She is also working with the K-12 partners in NOCO in promoting a robust healthcare workforce pipeline. She is also working on Opportunity Now Grant funding opportunities with NOCO Health Sector Partnership.
She participates on Nursing Advisory Boards at Front Range Community College and the University of Northern Colorado. Carol also participates in several statewide nursing initiatives and the Board of the Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence. She will continue to support the County's efforts to improve our community's economic viability by connecting people to meaningful work and businesses to talent and resources.
Advocacy is important to the provision of healthcare in our community. From a nursing standpoint, there are organizations that represent nurses and health care facilities in Colorado.
Locally, the Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance reviews legislation that impacts businesses and our regional local economy. A subset of this committee reviews healthcare legislation from a business and community impact standpoint.
Addressing the current nursing shortage, will take healthcare professionals, administrators and other community partners working collaboratively.
Northern Colorado Health Sector Partnership
The Northern Colorado Health Sector Partnership brings together key stakeholders to promote and improve health within our communities. We will collaborate across disciplines, organizations and communities to seize opportunities, solve problems and celebrate successes in the region.
Imagining, Innovating and Transforming the National Nursing Workforce
Sharing in-depth analyses of the issues and innovative initiatives will help colleagues, academicians, and policy makers work collectively to make significant strides in addressing this public health issue. This national conference will focus on these key issues that affect the nursing workforce shortage.
Conference Objectives
The National Forum of Nursing Workforce Centers conference explored strategies, policy, and advocacy related to the nursing workforce related to:
K-12 pipeline
Pre-requisite education, pre-nursing pathways
Pre-licensure education at the RN and APRN levels
Health and well-being of the nursing workforce
Upskilling the workforce through academic and/or mentoring programs
Optimizing the nursing workforce
Workforce data
Opening Keynote Presentation -The Power of Nursing- Past, Present & Future by Rebecca Love, RN, BS, MSN, FIEL
Rebecca Love is the Chief Clinical Officer of IntelyCare. She is passionate about empowering nurses and creating communities to help nurses innovate, create, and collaborate to start businesses and inventions to transform healthcare. Her keynote presentation was an inspirational reminder of the power nurses have and how they can be positive disruptors in today’s healthcare field.
Other presenters included Carole Johnson, the Health Resources and Services (HRSA) Administrator who provided updates on the state of the nursing workforce.
There were many sessions taught by nurses, human resources directors, academic leaders, etc. who addressed the conference objectives.
Melissa Henry, UNC Director of Nursing and Carol Salter, Larimer County Economic and Workforce Development Nursing Shortage Program manager presented at the Nurse Well Being Conference which was held in Northern Colorado on February 2, 2023.
Well-being and resilience of the nursing workforce is critical to the health of our communities. As part of a larger work to strategize regional solutions surrounding the nursing shortage, a team of industry, education, and workforce leaders developed a conference to support and celebrate nurses and to provide them with strategies to use in their workplaces. A regional health sector partnership strategized solutions surrounding the nursing workforce shortage, leading to the development of a nursing consortium in spring 2022. The consortium prioritized industry and education issues contributing to the regional shortage of nurses. Nurses’ well-being and resilience was identified as the most significant issue contributing to the shortage in the region. To address this need, a conference was developed as one of several strategies identified and implemented in the region.
Carol was able to connect with many state nursing workforce center leaders and learned how the nursing shortage impacted their states and the steps they are taking to address this need. Resources from the conference include:
Nurse Well Being Conference
Over 150 nurses, nurse aides and others attended the Nurse Well Being Conference on February 2, 2023 at The Ranch Events Complex in Loveland, Colorado. The goal of the event was to inspire and support nursing students, current nurses, and inactive nurses. The event was hosted by the Industry-Education Nursing Consortium of the Northern Colorado Health Sector Partnership.
Thank you to the 2023 Nurse Well Being Conference Sponsors
Presenting: McKee Wellness Foundation Gold: University of Northern Colorado School of Nursing Silver: Aims Community College, City of Fort Collins, City of Greeley, City of Johnstown, City of Loveland, Columbine Health Systems, Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce, Town of Windsor, University of Colorado College of Nursing, Larimer County, Weld County Bronze: Banner Health, Colorado State University College of Health and Human Sciences, Loveland Chamber of Commerce, Northern Colorado Long Term Acute Hospital, Northern Colorado Rehab Hospital, UCHealth, The Weld Trust.
