To address the long-term need for nurses in Mississippi, and to help fill shortages of nurses and other critical healthcare professionals along the Gulf Coast following Katrina's deadly storm on Aug. 29, 2005, a Louisiana law firm has partnered with a Gulf Coast immigration attorney to facilitate the immigration process for foreign-born nurses.

 

The new service is reflective of a continuing regional trend of recruiting nurses from other countries, particularly English-speaking nations using a U.S. curriculum. However, plodding through the arduous immigration process has hampered healthcare employers' ability to go that route.  

 

"This has been a huge challenge for hospitals looking for quality staff, because they're simply not available in the area," said A. J. Herbert III, a recognized health law attorney for Baton Rouge-based Middleberg Riddle & Gianna (MRG), and chairman of the firm's Healthcare and Corporate Law Department. The law firm has a standing co-counsel affiliation with Patricia A. Bollman, who specializes in obtaining necessary visas for foreign, critical-need professionals to help hospitals and other healthcare providers navigate the immigration process.

 

"We believe this is a valuable service because it can help our clients meet the need they have to serve their communities," said Herbert. "In addition to nurses, this is a service our clients will be using to help fill their outstanding needs for physicians and other healthcare professionals."

 

Herbert said the firm's relationship with Bollman developed from their joint representation of a major client in an immigration dispute, during which MRG provided the litigation team, led by Erin Casey Hangartner, and Bollman provided the expertise in immigration law. 

 

"From there, the relationship evolved to the point where a formal affiliation made sense for both firms," said Herbert. "We complement each other's practices and provide Patricia the expanded range of expertise in other practice areas while allowing her to remain independent at the same time."

 

The immigration process involves obtaining a VisaScreen Certificate for international nurses to verify their educational credentials and understanding of the English language. Then, the international nurse must pass the U.S. exam (NCLEX) for licensure.

 

Herbert and Bollman expect brisk business across the Gulf Coast states for immigration law services. The Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center has reported that nursing shortages have played a significant role on Louisiana's healthcare delivery capacity, particularly in post-Katrina New Orleans.

 

In Louisiana, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNA) represent a critical shortage. The Crescent City area alone has lost approximately 25 percent of its practicing CRNAs since Hurricane Katrina.

 

In Texas, the demand for full-time registered nurses exceeded supply by 22,000 in 2008, according to the latest study from the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies.

 

Mississippi, based on its overall rural population and hurricane activity along the Gulf Coast, is expected to continue to share the brunt of the nursing shortage. The Mississippi Nurses Association estimated the nursing vacancy rate of about 7 percent will grow to at least 29 percent by 2025. The Mississippi Office of Nursing Workforce reported that most Mississippi hospitals were having difficulty recruiting nurses a year before Katrina. Post-Katrina, the Mississippi Hospital Association coined the nursing shortage as "alarming."

 

Compounding the problem, reports the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, is that nursing colleges and universities across the country are struggling to expand enrollment levels to meet the rising demand for nursing care. The Health Resources and Services Administration within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services predicts the number of states with a shortage of RNs is expected to grow from 30 in 2000 to 44 in 2020.  Registered nurses account for the nation's largest single healthcare profession.

 

Ricki Garrett, executive director of the Mississippi Nurses Association, said that while it's true that many hospitals have resorted to supplementing their nursing staff with nurses from other countries, "our concern is that by doing so, we're exacerbating the nursing shortages in countries that can ill afford to lose their nurses."

 

"We need to be addressing the shortage of nurses in our country by addressing the nursing faculty shortage and by providing a work environment that supports nurses and encourages them to stay in the profession," she said. "The Magnet program of the American Nurses Association is an excellent tool for creating nurse friendly hospitals."