Letter to the Editor
Santa Fe New Mexican
July 30, 2010
Thank you to the New Mexican for raising awareness about recruiting nurses committed to patient safety (Troubled nurses slip through cracks, Santa Fe New Mexican, July 24, 2010). If New Mexico does not expand its nursing education programs, there will be an estimated shortage of 5,000 nurses by 2020. Two reports that address this crisis are HJM40:The Impact of a Shortage of Nursing Instructors in New Mexico (nmnursingexcellence.org) convened by the NM Higher Education Department, Board of Nursing and NM Center for Nursing Excellence and Con Alma Health Foundation’s report on Project DIVERSITY (conalma.org), a nursing pipeline to increase the number of ethnically diverse nurses in New Mexico, funded by Partners Investing in Nursing, a joint initiative of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Northwest Health Foundation.
Significant federal funding is expected soon. If New Mexico is to secure this funding, we will need to harness the power of partnership.
Dolores E. Roybal
Executive Director
Con Alma Health Foundation
