The Wisconsin Center for Nursing (WCN) was created to alleviate a potential public health crisis caused by a shortage of nurses. The shortage is due to an aging nurse workforce and increased demand for nurses to care for an aging population. Wisconsin faces a projected 13% shortage in the next 15 years.
The WCN is a culmination of years of collaboration among Wisconsin nurse leaders in practice, education and policy positions through the Wisconsin Nursing Redesign Consortium (WNRC).
As one of the goals of WNRC the Wisconsin Center for Nursing (WCN) was created and incorporated in 2005 and in 2006 received 501 (c) (3) status as a non-profit organization.
WNRC and WCN have been generously supported by funding from the Faye McBeath Foundation, nursing organizations, health care organization, and individual donations.
WNRC was organized in 2001 by:
Sue Ela, MSN, RN (Aurora HealthCare), Sally Lundeen, PhD, RN, FAAN (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
Patricia Schroeder, MSN, RN, FAAN (Covenant Healthcare), Madeline Wake, PhD, RN, FAAN (Marquette University) and a group of nursing service and academic partners in Wisconsin.
 These nurse leaders were driven by concerns about the growing nursing workforce shortage in the state and a desire to develop innovative models of nursing care delivery to better meet the healthcare needs of Wisconsin residents.
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The WNRC:
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 Forged innovative partnerships among Wisconsin academic institutions, health care organizations, and nursing organizations across the state
- Supported innovative redesign projects throughout the state
- Responded to emerging education and workforce issues
- Hosted four nursing redesign conferences
- Championed the development of a comprehensive agenda for addressing the nursing shortage in Wisconsin
- Created the Wisconsin Center for Nursing
WCN Vision
Nurses:
Vital for Wisconsin’s Health
Wisconsin will have a diverse nurse workforce, sufficient in number, appropriately educated, effectively utilized and adequately supported to provide safe and quality evidence-based care that improves health outcomes of Wisconsin residents.
The overall goals of the Wisconsin Center for Nursing are to:
- Bring Wisconsin nurses, professional organizations, academic and service providers together as collaborative partners in efforts to support the State’s health plan, “Healthiest Wisconsin 2010”
- Collect, analyze and disseminate state nursing workforce data to assist health care organizations effectively utilize nursing resources
- Institute statewide nurse recruitment and retention efforts to insure a sufficient nursing workforce for Wisconsin
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