As Florida’s population surges, state invests in nursing schools to target shortage
As Florida’s population surges, state invests in nursing schools to target shortage
Florida is the nation’s fastest-growing state, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“The state is the place to be, people like it,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. Last May though, he said there are side effects of all that growth.
“So the demand for nursing, I think, is nationwide, but for us it’s even gonna be more acute,” DeSantis said.
The number of nurses in Florida is shrinking. The Florida Hospital Association predicts a shortfall of 59,100 nurses in the state by 2035. Many of its new residents are retirees and make up an older population that typically requires more health care.
Because of the demand for nurses, the Florida Legislature allocated more than $125 million last year for nursing schools like Broward College.
Broward College’s Dean and nursing administrator, Sara Turpel, loves to recruit students.
“I do this all the time. I am always trying to talk people into becoming nurses,” Turpel said.
Broward College also needs more part-time instructors. Many nursing professors leave teaching because they also work as nurses.
“Their full-time job at the hospital required them to be there more, or they left the area to take one of those exclusive travel jobs where they could make a fortune,” Turpel said.
Travel nurses often earn more than regular registered nurses. Nurses make $37 an hour on average, according to federal labor data. The legislative funding incentivizes nursing instructors to work extra hours with students who need help.
Nursing student Charlotte Rand is in her last semester at Broward College and hopes to stay and work in South Florida.
“You don’t have to be 20 years old or right out of high school to start nursing school,” said Rand, who’s 51 and has two grown children. She wants to work in obstetrics helping to deliver babies.
“I want to give my service to others at this point, and I can serve and I can get a salary,” she said.
Still, many nursing schools just don’t have enough instructors. That’s one reason that 76,140 qualified nursing applications were rejected in 2021, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing — despite the nursing shortage, there aren’t enough teachers to fill classrooms at nursing schools.
Florida’s lawmakers hope the investment in schools will lead to more nursing degree graduates to help fill the many job openings.
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