Home Find a Health Insurance Plan Find a Health Care Provider For Members For Employers For Health Care Providers
Good 2B Me website for teens. New website with interactive content, 3-D navigation, and cool graphics teaches teens about health and wellness

Press Release

Independence Blue Cross Sponsors Nursing Internship

IBC's programs help stem nursing shortage, health care crisis

Philadelphia, PA - August 3, 2006 - August 3, 2006 - Melanie Krysko thought it would be just another desk job. Kristin Quinlan didn't think she'd be involved with providing critical care at an insurance company.

But Melanie, Kristin and 12 other nursing interns from five local schools of nursing - Community College of Philadelphia, La Salle University, University of Pennsylvania, Villanova University, and Widener University - have discovered new facets of nursing and a greater appreciation for their chosen field after their unique summer internship at Independence Blue Cross (IBC).

Designed to give nursing students a behind-the-scenes look at how managed health care works, IBC's nursing internship program uses IBC as a real world learning laboratory to bridge the gap between the clinical material taught in the classroom and the actual practice of health administration in a business and clinical setting. This internship program, now in its second year, is a companion initiative to the IBC Nurse Scholars Program. The Nurse Scholars Program provides much-needed financial assistance and other support to aspiring nurse educators and undergraduate nursing students to stem the shortage of nurses and nurse educators.

Speaking to the 2006 summer interns, Joseph A. Frick, IBC President and CEO said, "All of you are critical components to the future of the quality of our health care system. We at IBC are proud to be the connector in this equation, providing the conduit for the nursing schools, the educators, the clinics and the insurance industry to come together to improve access to high quality, reasonably priced health care for everybody.

"The nursing shortage, which the Nurse Scholars Program addresses, is but one of the many pieces of the health care crisis," he added. "The health care industry has matured over the past five years and has gone beyond finger-pointing and blaming the other party for problems. Our industry has realized that many of the issues we face are impossible to solve individually, and that's why partnership and collaboration is so important to us."

Recent reports show that health care is the top national concern for consumers. According to a national poll, consumers said health care is the number one issue that the government should address (Public Opinion Strategies, January 2006). In addition, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services predicted that health care and health care spending would top $4 trillion, or 20 percent of the gross domestic product, by 2015 (National Health Care Expenditures Projection: 2005-2015, February 2006). Currently, only three out of five employers can afford to provide health insurance for employees (Kaiser Family Foundation, "Employer Health Benefits 2006 Annual Survey," September 2005), and 15 percent - or 45 million Americans - lack health insurance (U.S. Census Bureau, August 2005).

IBC nursing internship program was expanded this year to include internships at local health care clinics supported by IBC. Seven nursing students interned at IBC headquarters. Another seven interned at nine clinics in the region.

Dimensions of the nursing shortage problem:
The national health care crisis is exacerbated by the growing shortage in nurses and nurse educators. Having adequate nursing staff saves thousands of lives and millions of dollars, but the United States currently does not have enough nurses, or adequate resources to train future nurses. Consider:

  • More than 1 million new and replacement nurses will be needed by 2012 (2004 Monthly Labor Review, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, February 2004).

  • Pennsylvania is fifth in the nation for projected nursing shortages, and will have an estimated 30 percent gap by 2020 between the number of nurses needed in hospitals and those that are available (PA Health Department and the PA Legislative Budget and Finance Committee, 2004).

  • More than 6,700 patient deaths and four million days of care in hospitals could be avoided each year if hospitals increased nursing staffing and hours of nursing care per patient (Health Affairs, January/February 2006).

Independence Blue Cross collaborates on a solution:
IBC is committed to supporting nurses and quality nursing care by providing nursing school scholarships and grants for nursing faculty in addition to internship opportunities and other support.
 
"I never imagined that at my internship at IBC I would be involved in critical care," said Kristin Quinlan, a University of Pennsylvania nursing intern at IBC. "It broadened my spectrum of learning in health care. I now know there is a whole world of possibilities in [critical care] beyond the traditional hospital setting."

"The challenges in health care are difficult to solve individually," said Nicole Roskowski, a Villanova University nursing intern. "I will discuss and further examine the challenges and questions I had during my internship with my professors and classmates to help us work towards a solution."

She added, "The experience we interns had was very valuable, and it's even more valuable when we can share them."

This year, IBC drew on its relationships with clinics involved in its Charitable Medical Care Grant Program to offer nursing students internship opportunities at area nonprofit clinics in the five-county Philadelphia region. IBC's Charitable Medical Care Grant Program provides financial support to local clinics to support their mission of offering comprehensive care to the uninsured and underinsured in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Earlier this year, IBC significantly increased its support of the Nurse Scholars Program by dedicating $9.5 million to the program over a five-year period with its partner, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Foundation. As of the end of 2005, IBC had awarded $2 million for more than 1,200 scholarships to students in 28 accredited nursing programs in southeastern Pennsylvania. This year, the program will award $1.25 million for about 800 graduate and undergraduate nursing scholarships.

The Nurse Scholars Program was the recipient of the America's Health Insurance Plans Foundation Community Leadership Award in March of this year, and was presented with numerous awards and recognition such as the National League for Nursing Award for Public Service and the Carl Moore Leadership Award from the Philadelphia Health Management Corporation.

Independence Blue Cross is the leading health insurer in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Nationwide, IBC and its affiliates provide coverage to nearly 3.4 million people. For nearly 70 years, Independence Blue Cross has offered quality health care products and services tailored to meet the changing needs of members, employers, groups and providers.

Independence Blue Cross recently received the highest ratings from the National Committee for Quality Assurance for its HMO and PPO health care plans. In addition, in 2005, Independence Blue Cross's Personal Choice was rated the No. 1 PPO in the nation and its Keystone HMO was ranked the No. 1 HMO in the region by health care consumers in a leading independent consumer magazine.