According to the American Hospital Association, nurses represent the largest health-care workforce and provide approximately 95% of patient care in hospitals. More than 126,000 nursing positions are vacant nationwide, however, and patients are suffering as a result. Shortened hospital stays, a growing number of diseases and more cases of acute illness in an aging population compound the situation. In years to come, nurse attrition and population growth will exacerbate the crisis further, especially in California.

"Quality of care for hospital patients is threatened as the shortage of nurses progressively worsens," said Betty Moore, Foundation co-founder and member of its board of directors. "If left unaddressed, these issues will become a severe public health problem."

Since launching the initiative in November 2003, the Foundation has awarded three grants to support UCSF programs:

• The Betty Irene Moore Accelerated Doctoral Program in Nursing will provide $9.9 million in resources for fellowships, faculty support and facilities to speed UCSF School of Nursing students through the PhD program and into Bay Area teaching careers, where they will train the next generation of nursing professionals.
• The Integrated Nurse Leadership Program—a $5.7 million project coordinated by the UCSF Center for the Health Professions—will train Bay Area nurses and assist hospital administrators in creating strategies to recruit and retain nurses and protect patients from accidents.
• The California Nursing Outcomes Coalition (CalNOC) will use $1.4 million to survey the quality of nursing care at Bay Area hospitals. By quantifying current rates of pneumonias, infections, mortality and other factors, this UCSF-affiliated organization will establish a baseline to measure the results of Betty Irene Moore Nursing Initiative programs.

"We are greatly honored by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation's support for nursing education and patient care initiatives at UCSF," says School of Nursing Dean Kathleen A. Dracup, RN, FNP, DNSc, FAAN. "These programs will help turn the tide in our struggle to solve the Bay Area nursing crisis."

To learn more about the UCSF School of Nursing, please contact Mark Boone at 415/502-8310 or mboone@support.ucsf.edu.