Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Keiser University and the National Association of Hispanic Nurses have joined ranks to create an advisory council that aims to solve Southern Florida's nursing shortage, which is predicted to worsen by 2035, Miami Today News reported July 19.
The new council plans to strategize effective ways to hire and retain nurses. It will consist of hospital and healthcare organization leaders, educators, policymakers and other healthcare stakeholders.
A 2021 report by the Florida Hospital Association and the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida revealed the adequacy of registered nurses will be 91 percent in 2023, with 243,546 nurses and a demand of 267,355 nurses. By 2035, this adequacy percentage is expected to drop to 88 percent, with 285,542 nurses and a demand of 322,928 nurses.
The need for nurse practitioners will increase as well, as the report expects 46,680 nurse practitioners and a demand for 55,962 nurse practitioners in 2023.
Before the pandemic in 2019, Florida had a shortage of 11,481 nurses, but nursing schools still turned away 80,000 qualified applicants because of a lack of proper faculty to teach these students, the publication reports. The shortage inspired several donations to Florida university nursing programs across the state.