Health News Florida

With too few nurses, hospitals are developing mentoring and internship programs

WLRN Public Media | By Allison Horton - Miami Herald

Published April 22, 2022 at 7:32 AM EDT

Nicole Puleo, a Broward Health clinical nurse educator, at right, and Paul Brattan, in the back right, also a Broward Health clinical nurse educator, train nurses to work in the ICU as part of the hospital’s Critical Care Internship program.

As the nursing shortage has grown more acute due to the pandemic, hospitals in South Florida are establishing creative ways to mentor and train nurses.

The pandemic exacerbated the nursing shortage when many nurses opted for lucrative traveling nurse jobs, or they retired. At the same time, nursing school enrollment has not kept up with demand, which has grown due to an aging U.S. population. (The number of U.S. residents age 65 and over is projected to shoot up to 82 million by 2030, up from 54 million in 2021.)

The result: Registered nurse (RN) is among the top occupations in job growth through 2029, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Projections 2019-29. The Bureau projects 175,900 openings for RNs each year through 2029.

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With too few nurses, hospitals are developing mentoring and internship programs

As the nursing shortage has grown more acute due to the pandemic, hospitals in South Florida are establishing creative ways to mentor and train nurses.

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