Efforts to recruit and train nurses in Maine have reduced the state’s projected nurse shortage in 2025 to 1,450, down from a projection of 3,200 released in 2017, the Portland Press Herald reported.
A report commissioned by the Maine Nursing Action Coalition and the Maine Hospital Association found the state needs to recruit 1,000 more new nurses annually, up from the current annual figure of about 875 nurses. Only 700 nurses were entering the state's nursing workforce several years ago, the Portland Press Herald reported March 2.
Colleges around the state have looked to boost nursing graduate rates, which has increased the number of nurses 35 or younger by 28 percent since 2015. A bill sponsored by Sen. Mattie Daughtry, D-Maine, looks to expand registered nursing programs statewide to help relieve the shortages.
Read the full report here.