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Committee backs nursing program funding bills; witnesses cite capacity on Maui and statewide coordination needs
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Summary
The Senate Committee on Higher Education advanced bills to fund nursing education and to support RN-to-BS and statewide nursing programs. Witnesses told senators there is local capacity and demand on Maui and called for coordination across University of Hawaii campuses and community colleges.
The Senate Committee on Higher Education advanced multiple measures on Feb. 4 addressing nursing education and workforce development, recommending amendments and deferral dates while asking university officials for follow-up details.
Della Teraoka, interim vice president for the University of Hawaii Community Colleges, and Laura Reinhart, director of the Hawaii State Center for Nursing, testified in support of Senate Bill 19, which would create funds to establish a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program on Maui. "We did find that there is ample capacity in Maui for this type of program," Reinhart told the committee, citing the Center for Nursing's research on educational capacity and workforce needs.
Clementina Seriulev, dean of the UH Manoa School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene, testified on behalf of the University of Hawaii system in support of Senate Bill 637, which would appropriate funds to the university for various nursing programs including staffing for a statewide online RN-to-BSN program and expansion coordination among Manoa, West Oahu and Hilo. Rebecca Romine, faculty director of the pre-nursing pathway program at UH West Oahu, and others from the UH system said the proposals would support statewide access and help address nursing shortages.
Committee members raised questions about where associate and baccalaureate nursing programs are offered and about a hub-and-spoke model for articulating associate-degree graduates into baccalaureate programs. Teraoka said community colleges and UH campuses already offer a mix of associate and baccalaureate programs across the islands and that program starts or spokes require accreditation and funding.
At decision making, the committee recommended SB19 and SB637 move forward with committee amendments that blank appropriation amounts for placement in the committee report and defer effective dates (the committee recorded a July deferral window for some items). For SB637 the committee recorded the recommendation to amend, blank the appropriation, and defer the effective date; the roll call recorded Chair Kim—aye; Vice Chair Kidani—aye; Sen. Fukunaga—aye; Sen. Hashimoto—aye; Sen. Fevella—excused.
Why it matters: Committee members noted statewide shortages across multiple health professions—nurses, social workers and allied health staff—and identified nursing program expansion as a way to increase pipeline capacity, particularly on the neighbor islands.
