• Keiser University announced a partnership with the National Association of Hispanic Nurses to form an advisory committee to work with hospitals and universities to usher more nursing students into a professional setting
• The committee will work alongside medical leaders to strategize and implement short and long-term plans for statewide actualization 
• The group anticipates a deficit of 130,000 nurses by 2025

In response to the nurse shortage, Keiser University and the National Association of Hispanic Nurses formed an advisory committee this week to assist hospitals and universities in working together to fill the gap. The organization will include government officials, educational leaders, and health care sector specialists who will work together to develop nursing educational pipelines.

According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), the U.S. is projected to experience a shortage of registered nurses in the coming years which will result in a deficit of 130,000 nurses by 2025. the State of Florida faces a dire nurse staffing shortage that will result in a projected nursing workforce deficit of 60,000 nurses by 2035.

“Nurses, over the past several years, have certainly been a challenge to retain and recruit,” said Gino R. Santorio, President and CEO of Mt. Sinai Medical Center. “Simply put, without action, the supply of nurses cannot and will not meet the demand of our communities. Vacancy rates for nursing are double to triple what they were pre-pandemic and that’s pretty consistent on a national level.”

To address the issue, Keiser University is joining together with organizations throughout Florida and the U.S. to utilize practices related to the shortage and develop practical short and long-term solutions that can be implemented statewide.

Many medical groups are taking steps to alleviate the shortage of workers before it reaches a critical level.

In April, HCA Healthcare, Inc., a leading healthcare provider, today announced that it will donate $1.5 million to Florida International University’s (FIU) Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences (NWCNHS) in a partnership to expand its faculty and offer scholarships to increase nursing enrollment.

“HCA Florida Healthcare and FIU have a longstanding relationship and a shared commitment to serving South Florida,” said Chuck Hall, national group president of HCA Healthcare. “We are thrilled to announce this partnership with FIU to help address the nursing faculty shortage by supporting programs that help expand the number of registered nurses qualified to teach our country’s future nurses.”

Similarly, in June it was announced that tuition and fees will be paid for some of the University of South Florida College of Nursing (USFCON) accelerated students under a partnership with Moffitt Cancer Center and the university.

The scholarship includes tuition and fees for the entire program under the condition that students who apply must make a commitment to spend two years of employment at Moffitt after graduation. The partnership’s aim is to bridge the academic-practice gap by blending on-the-job training for student nurses with a structured transition program to the role of the professional nurse.

The Florida Hospital Association (FHA) recently conducted a survey of its member institutions, finding an alarming Registered Nurse turnover rate of 25 percent, also noting turnover in over a third of its total critical care unit workforce.

FHA projects a deficit of 59,100 nurses in Florida by 2035. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, job growth for nurses in Florida is expected to grow by 21 percent, while 40 percent of nurses will approach retirement age in the next decade. The report also noted that stressful working conditions caused by the pandemic were leading swaths of healthcare workers to resign from positions, citing burnout and fatigue.