(A) The Office for Health Care Workforce Research is hereby created within the South Carolina Area Health Education Consortium (SCAHEC). The purpose of the Office for Health Care Workforce Research is to analyze workforce supply and demand data and predict the need for registered nurses and must be located within the South Carolina Center for Nursing Leadership.

(B) The Office for Health Care Workforce Research shall collaborate with the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office, the South Carolina Center for Nursing Leadership, health professional education programs, professional associations representing the various health profession disciplines, and the health care delivery system to monitor the need for and educational capacity for nurses in South Carolina.

(C) The duties and functions of the office include, but are not limited to:

(1) collaborating with other appropriate entities to expand nursing workforce data collection and analysis;

(2) conducting an annual nursing workforce needs survey, using a manpower prediction model for staffing, to create a statewide database of nursing supply and demand statistics for health care employers in this State;

(3) studying and monitoring trends in the recruitment, retention, and education of associate, baccalaureate, masters, and doctorate-prepared nurses;

(4) soliciting information regarding current budgeted nursing positions, vacancies, projected staffing requirements, and turnover data; and

(5) providing workforce data and analysis to assist in development of nursing workforce policy.

(D) In regard to funding for the Office for Health Care Workforce Research, the commission upon consultation with members of the Advisory Committee on Academic Programs (ACAP) from institutions with accredited nursing programs and the chairperson, or designee, of the South Carolina Council of Deans and Directors in Nursing Education, shall determine and distribute funds from the Critical Needs Nursing Initiative Fund directly to the Office for Health Care Workforce Research for its uses and purposes consistent with the guidelines of this chapter.

HISTORY: 2008 Act No. 276, Section 2, eff June 5, 2008.