The Kansas City Metropolitan Healthcare Council will continue efforts to bolster the area’s nursing work force this year. “There’s always a shortage of nurses,” said Steven Wilkinson, CEO of Menorah Medical Center and 2008 council president. “Nurses who are retiring from the work force need to be replaced.” One of the biggest contributors to the nationwide nursing shortage is a dwindling number of nurse educators. Like nurses on the front lines of care, they are heading for retirement in droves. Under the auspices of the council, clinical nurse educators from area hospitals take on adjunct faculty positions at local nursing schools. The council also sponsors programs that strengthen nursing education on the job, such as training hospital nurses to mentor new nurses. Read more