At more than 11,000 feet, majestic Mount Hood is a favorite spot of Oregon’s skiers. Photo courtesy of Oregon's Mt. Hood Territory.

If you paid attention in school, you may remember hearing about Lewis and Clark, the Hudson Bay Trading Company, and the Oregon Trail. The chances are good, however, that your history teacher never told you about the infamous Lovejoy-Pettygrove coin toss, which also had a part to play in Oregon’s history.

The story began in 1843, when a drifter from Tennessee named William Overton landed his canoe on the banks of the Willamette River. The beauty and the potential of the mountain-ringed, timber-rich valley impressed Overton. His only problem, according to the Portland Oregon Visitors Association, was that he lacked the 25 cents needed to file a land claim. Overton took on a partner to overcome this obstacle.

In return for a quarter, he agreed to share his claim to the 640-acre site with Massachusetts lawyer Asa Lovejoy. Not long after that, Overton realized he just wasn’t cut out for clearing trees and building roads. Before he drifted off into obscurity, he sold his half of the claim to Francis W. Pettygrove. That’s when another difficulty emerged.

Lovejoy wanted to name the budding township after his hometown of Boston; Pettygrove, a native of Portland, Maine, had other ideas. They settled the argument by flipping a coin.
Chance may have determined the city’s name, but it’s no accident that Portland went on to become Oregon’s largest city. In addition to its deep-water port and abundant resources, Portland enjoys a mild climate and scenic location. The city is perched at the northern tip of the Willamette Valley, which has remained an agricultural powerhouse since the 1800s. You’ll find 60% of Oregon’s population and eight of its 10 largest cities, including Salem, the state capital, and Eugene, home of the University of Oregon, in the Willamette Valley, where residents enjoy views of the Cascade Mountains, and nurses will find some of the most attractive opportunities in the state.

On duty

There are plenty of parks, coffee carts, microbreweries, and bookstores in and around Portland. And, according to U.S. News & World Report, one of the nation’s top hospitals is located here. Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Hospital in Portland ranked in the top 50 for cancer care in the magazine’s 2004 survey.

U.S. News & World Report also rated the OHSU School of Nursing among the nation’s best. All seven of the school’s master’s specialties, nurse practitioner gerontological/geriatric, nurse practitioner adult, nurse practitioner family, nurse practitioner pediatrics, clinical nurse specialist psychiatric/mental health, clinical nurse specialist adult/medical-surgical, and clinical nurse specialist community public health, ranked in the magazine’s top 10. And, the school’s nurse-midwifery program shared first-place honors with the University of Pennsylvania.

Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the country, and it provides some of Oregon’s most breath-taking views. Photo by Steve Terrill, courtesy
of Travel Oregon.

What you won’t find in Portland is a nursing shortage that is as serious as what the rest of the country is facing. According to an update on the nursing workforce provided by the Oregon Center for Nursing (OCN), Oregon has a 4% vacancy rate for hospital RNs. The overall vacancy rate in the state stands at 5%, with long-term care having the highest shortage rate. “We don’t have a severe shortage in the Portland metro area,” admits Kris Campbell, RN, PhD, executive director of the OCN, but Oregon is not without challenges.

“The average age of a nurse in Oregon is 47,” Campbell says. Structuring the practice environment to both reward the contributions and accommodate the physical capabilities of such nurses is an integral part of the strategic plan being developed and implemented by the Oregon Nursing Leadership Council (ONLC), which oversees the OCN.

According to the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis, that’s not the only concern, however. “Oregon, though quickly and steadily becoming more urban, remains largely rural in the eastern part of the state,” the center reports. As is the case in many Western states, the population distribution can pose a problem for both educators and health care providers. In addition, although Oregon boasts breathtaking scenery that can be found nowhere else on earth, Campbell says the state struggles with “an insufficient capacity of nurse training programs,” much like the rest of the country.

Oregon’s mountains are beautiful, but vibrant vistas are on the coast, as well. Photo by Bozena Palmquist, courtesy of Travel Oregon.

Since 2001, when the ONLC first issued a strategic plan in response to what appeared to be a growing nursing crisis in the state, the graduation rate has increased by 11% per year, for a total increase of 45%, according to Campbell. It’s short of the plan’s initial goal of doubling enrollment at the state’s nursing schools, but it has produced a number of creative and effective programs and partnerships.

In 2002, as part of a major recruitment initiative that had the goal of adding ethnic minorities, men, and science-oriented students to that mix, the OCN produced a poster with the caption “Are You Man Enough to Be a Nurse?” The poster received numerous awards and lots of media attention. But perhaps more importantly, it demonstrated the creativity with which the nursing leadership in Oregon is approaching the challenge of meeting the state’s health care needs.

Other examples of that creativity can be seen in a number of collaborative efforts that have been introduced across the state. For instance, the Oregon Consortium for Nursing Education, a partnership of community colleges and public and private universities, is set to dramatically expand the capacity of the state’s nursing schools. The Providence Scholars program, a partnership between the University of Portland and Providence Health Systems, a not-for-profit network of hospitals that includes the state’s only Magnet facility, Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, covers 100% of the tuition for participating undergraduate students in exchange for a three-year employment commitment.

Make Ecola State Park, which is near Cannon Beach and Astoria, one of your stops as you explore the coast. Photo by Bob Woodward, courtesy
of Travel Oregon.

Campbell is also proud of the statewide network of sophisticated simulation labs that has been developed, but she says it is the shared vision and united voice with which the industry speaks that makes being a nurse in Oregon so special. “We have really amazing leaders,” she says. “It’s so powerful to have people working together.” And there are other benefits. “The other great thing about being a nurse in Oregon, is that you get to live in Oregon,” she adds.

Off duty

If it can be done outdoors, chances are it’s being done in Oregon, where you’ll find folks fishing, hunting, camping, downhill skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, white-water rafting, kayaking, wind surfing, hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, hang gliding, rock climbing, and just standing around gazing in awe at the spectacular scenery.

The dramatic beauty of Oregon’s coastline is a photographer’s dream. Lush forests, rugged cliffs, shifting dunes, and sandy beaches are interspersed along the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway, otherwise known as U.S. Highway 101. As you head down the road, be prepared for frequent stops to take in the view and visit the colorful communities that line the coast. These harmonious hamlets include Astoria, the oldest American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains; Cannon Beach, which is loved by shoppers and art collectors; the Tillamook Cheese Factory, where nearly 1 million visitors watch the cheese-making and packaging processes each year; Depoe Bay, a popular whale-watching site; Newport, home to the Oregon Coast Aquarium; and Florence, where you’ll find the Sea Lion Caves. As the Oregon Coast Visitors Association says, the region has it all, from “fully developed resort communities with every possible amenity to quiet coastal towns where the loudest sounds you’ll hear are waves on the shoreline and seagulls overhead.”

You can hear the distinctive sound of a cork being coaxed from a bottle of wine in the Willamette Valley. According to the Portland Oregon Visitors Association, the success and popularity of Oregon’s 250 wineries can in part be attributed to the valley’s ideal location, which sits on the same latitude as France’s Burgundy wine region. The rich agricultural potential of the valley provided a light at the end of the tunnel to settlers who endured the hardships of the Oregon Trail in the 1800s. Today, it remains one of the country’s most productive fruit-growing regions.

Outdoor enthusiasts find plenty to keep their blood pumping in Oregon. Photo by Eric Valentine, courtesy of Travel Oregon.

Portland, which sits at the tip of the fertile valley, enjoys a reputation for its own green spaces. The city, which in June 2004 earned the No.2 spot on the Men’s Journal list of “Best Big Cities” in the United States, is also known as an incubator for progressive urban planning, environmentally conscious public policy, and the sustainable development movement. Oregon introduced the country’s first bottle bill, which requires refundable deposits on beer and carbonated soft drink containers, in 1971, and continues to be a leader in the recycling movement.

Just outside Portland — 14 miles to be exact — the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area offers 292,500 acres of unparalleled scenery and outdoor recreational opportunities. Mount Hood, a majestic peak in the Cascade Mountain Range popular with skiers, is a dormant volcano rising to an impressive height of 11,240 feet. According to one Native American legend, Mount Hood was a brave warrior named Wy’east who fell in love with Mount St. Helens, a beautiful Indian maiden. Wy’east vied for the maiden’s attentions with Mount Adams, Wy’east’s rival. Unable to decide between the two braves, Mount St. Helens would occasionally erupt in frustration. Mount Mazama might have brought some balance to the equation, but it erupted more than 7,000 years ago, creating one of Oregon’s most striking natural wonders — Crater Lake. With depths of 1,932 feet, it is the deepest lake in the country, but it’s still just a drop in the bucket when you consider all that Oregon has to offer.