HJNO Jan/Feb 2022

46 JAN / FEB 2022 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS COLUMN NURSING THE Louisiana Center for Nursing (LCN) at the Louisiana State Board of Nursing (LSBN) continues to gather data on the workforce of Louisiana. Our charge is to collect, analyze, and report on issues and challenges that affect the supply and demand of nurses at the state level. Additionally, we are a subscriber member of the National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers (National Forum). The National Forum serves as a network for collaboration and communication among statewide nursing workforce entities that focuses on addressing the nursing shortage within their states and contributes to the national effort to assure an adequate supply of qualified nurses to meet the health needs of the U.S. population. One of to educate new and existing registered nurses (RNs) and advanced practice regis- tered nurses (APRNs), as well as the state’s ability to provide opportunities to those RNs and APRNs desiring to advance their education. This report is based on data that comes directly from the schools of nursing annual reports submitted to LSBN by Lou- isiana’s undergraduate and graduate nurs- ing programs. Major findings of this year’s report include the following: • There are 29 pre-RN licensure pro- grams approved by LSBN. • Over the last five years (2016 to 2020), there has been a 29% increase in the number of students applying for ad- mission to Louisiana’s pre-RN licen- sure programs. the major areas of the work of the National Forum is the development of a minimum data set for nursing supply, education capacity and nursing demand, which aids in the collection of uniform information and provides a national snapshot of the nursing workforce. CURRENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS The 2020 Nursing Education Capacity Report and the Nursing Supply in Loui- siana Report were released early in 2021. The 2020 Nursing Education Capacity Re- port provides valuable information to the LSBN board members, employers of RNs and APRNs, schools of nursing, workforce planners, policymakers and other interest- ed stakeholders about the state’s capacity Planning for the Future Nursing Workforce: Role of the Louisiana Center for Nursing