nursing school

FAMU wants to graduate more nurses. The school is adding three tracks for students to earn their MSN. The move comes as Florida faces a severe nursing shortage aggravated by the coronavirus pandemic.

The university's board of trustees voted to authorize the use of $29 million from the Legislature for a new facility that will help graduate an additional 150 nurses per year.

The university announced it will begin accepting nursing students three times a year: in the fall, spring and summer. The school also reduced the GPA needed for acceptance to the BSN program.

This additional funding toward the nursing industry comes after the pandemic revealed a nationwide shortage of nurses, including in Florida.

U.S. nursing schools turned away more than 80,000 qualified applicants because of an insufficient number of faculty to teach them. A new partnership aims to help.

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.

Nurses trying to practice in Pennsylvania have some of the longest waiting times in the nation. After wading endlessly through red tape, some have given up and left, worsening the staffing shortage.

Groups representing nursing homes, hospitals, assisted living facilities and home health providers detail issues such as nurse and CNA shortages and a lack of nursing faculty and student slots at colleges.

Across the country, hospitals are desperate for RNs and specialty nurses. Yet, paradoxically, the nursing pipeline has slowed, with educators retiring or returning to clinical work themselves.

A predicted nursing shortage is expected to effect The Villages especially hard. In nearby Ocala, the College of Central Florida is racing to help meet the demand.