When it comes to a community’s quality of life, there are few things more important than the availability of health care.

And in many Kansas communities – especially in rural areas with less population – registered nurses are a key component of the health care system. That’s why a shortage of nurses is such a big concern and why the state should look carefully at a plan proposed by the Kansas Board of Regents to help remedy that situation.

The regents recommended last week that the Kansas Legislature adopt a plan that would increase the state’s investment in nursing programs by $5.6 million. That amount would provide additional scholarships and other program improvements that would allow the state’s nursing programs to graduate 250 more students each year. An additional $2.15 million also is being recommended over the next 10 years to help nurses obtain master’s and doctoral degree.

One of the challenges to expanding nursing programs in the state is the need to hire enough faculty to teach those additional students. According to Karen Miller, dean of Kansas University’s School of Nursing, providing advanced degree programs for prospective teachers will be KU’s key role in the expansion plan.

The number of nursing students at KU has been stable for a number of years, she said, with the school graduating about 120 nurses each year. Miller said she wouldn’t expect that number to grow under the regents’ plan but that KU would take primary responsibility for training faculty that would allow other nursing programs across the state to expand. Scholarship money would be targeted toward nurses who wanted to use their advanced degrees to teach rather than to enter other fields of nursing, which often are more lucrative than academia.

KU is the only school in the state that offers a doctoral program in nursing, and recently announced it will initiate an online Ph.D. program in nursing to accommodate working nurses across the state.

An official with the Kansas State Nurses Assn. told the regents last week that the state will need 11,350 more registered nurses by 2010 and nearly 29,000 more by 2020. Those are daunting numbers. Miller said that statewide there are far more applicants than nursing programs currently can handle without additional faculty, scholarships and other support. The good news is that only the most qualified students are accepted to the programs, but with a serious shortage looming, it seems to make little sense to turn away many other qualified students.

Kansas legislators may not be excited about spending additional money on nursing programs, but at a time when the state is seeking to revitalize its rural areas and become a player in the field of biosciences, they should consider expanded nursing programs as an important investment in the state’s future.