Robinson Hosts Roundtable Discussion on Nursing Shortages, Workforce Development

PITTSBURGH - Sen. Devlin Robinson (R-37), chairman of the Senate Labor and Industry Committee, today hosted a roundtable discussion at Carlow University to examine nursing workforce shortages in Pennsylvania and the role private universities play in developing the next generation of healthcare professionals.

"Pennsylvania's nursing shortage affects communities in every corner of the commonwealth and presents significant challenges for both healthcare providers and the institutions working to educate future nurses," Robinson said. "Today's discussion highlighted the importance of collaboration between educators, employers, and policymakers as we work to address workforce needs and ensure patients have access to high-quality care."

The discussion brought together leaders from higher education and the healthcare industry to explore the challenges contributing to nursing shortages, strategies to strengthen the workforce pipeline, and potential legislative solutions to support recruitment, retention, and training efforts.

Participants included Carlow University President Dr. Kathy Humphrey, Chatham University President Dr. Lisa Lambert, Point Park University President Dr. Chris Brussalis, Duquesne University President Dr. David Dausey, St. Clair Hospital Senior Vice President Andrea Kalina, Carlow University Provost & Vice President of Academic Affairs Rhonda Maneval, and Independence Health Chief Human Resources Officer Ken Mittra.

During the roundtable, panelists discussed current workforce trends, efforts to increase enrollment in nursing programs, and barriers that can prevent students from entering or completing nursing education programs.

"Today's conversation is all about meeting the needs of our students, our community, and our great state," said Humphrey. "We are so appreciative that you've come today to consider how we can boost workforce development in our health care systems. But we also think it's important that we spend time discussing how we can increase the return on the students' investment, save PHEAA (Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency) dollars, and get students to the workforce more expediently by providing institutions the flexibility to create a 90+ credit hour bachelor's degree."

"We have 646 openings, and 200 of those are RN openings," said Mittra. "The reasons for that are competition and the fact that we don't have enough folks who can fill these open jobs.

According to Mittra, filling these vacancies has become increasingly difficult because they're competing not only with other healthcare providers, but also with employers like Sheetz and McDonald's that offer immediate employment in a job that doesn't require any advanced training or education.

"Graduates are telling us that they're completely burnt out because of the care burden," said Maneval. "The lack of staff nurses means that the other nurses that are there are taking care of more patients and have a greater care burden, which takes a toll on them. And this is another part of the issue - people are leaving the profession as well."

Participants also shared their perspectives on workforce shortages within healthcare systems and identified opportunities for legislative and regulatory reforms that could help expand training capacity and strengthen the nursing pipeline.

Robinson noted that several proposals before the General Assembly seek to address workforce challenges in healthcare, including legislation related to nurse practitioner practice authority, professional credentialing reforms, and targeted support for nursing education programs.

"Today's conversation helped move this issue from broad workforce statistics to the real-world experiences of educators and employers working every day to recruit, train, and retain qualified nurses," Robinson said.

The Senate Labor and Industry Committee will continue to examine legislative proposals to address Pennsylvania's nursing shortage.

VIDEO: Watch the full roundtable discussion here.