Tackling The Nation’s Nursing Shortage By Reducing Risk For All
A network of universities and healthcare providers shows how to produce more well-trained clinical staff at lower cost
The shortage of nurses is straining our hospitals and increasing health-care costs—and yet there are also big barriers in place for students interested in entering the profession where they are sorely needed. But with some creative collaboration, a scalable solution that addresses the needs of all stakeholders—students, schools, and hospitals—may now be in sight.
The clinical staffing shortage isn’t a small problem.
In 2024, nearly half of hospitals had nursing vacancy rates higher than 10 percent, with the average time to fill a Registered Nurse (RN) position taking anywhere from 59 to 109 days. Nationwide the shortage of RNs is roughly 350,000. States like California had a shortage of over 100,000 nurses and Georgia had over 34,000.
Our country’s inability to solve this crisis has led not just to a shortage of trained professionals to the detriment of patient care—but also a steadily increasing set of costs in the form of rural hospital closings, signing bonuses, poaching, contract labor, and expensive internationally educated nurses.
The challenge is threefold: not enough individuals completing nursing school; not enough capacity in existing nursing schools; and the friction associated with traditional tuition assistance programs.
What these three challenges have in common is a desire to avoid risk.
