In South Florida and nationwide, a growing shortage of nurses undermines patient access to care and places additional stress on our entire health care system. According to a 2023 survey of hospitals, health systems and medical groups, two-thirds of respondents reported that staffing challenges have forced them to reduce patient capacity at some point during the previous year.
Moreover, nearly one in four nurses are “very likely” to leave their job this year, up from just 8% in 2023. Alarmingly, 88% of nurses believe that staffing shortages are having a “detrimental impact on patient care.” All of this is unwelcome news at a time when Florida is estimated to have 59,000 fewer nurses than it needs to meet demand in the years ahead.
It is crucial to acknowledge that this crisis cannot be resolved overnight. While policymakers are rightly focused on solutions like protecting health care workers from violence and preventing burnout, it is equally important for them to work toward long-term reforms that will fortify the future nursing workforce.
To address the health care workforce crisis, policymakers should focus on solutions that grow the pipeline of qualified students admitted to and successfully graduating from nursing schools. Doing so will increase the number of well-equipped nurses taking care of patients and enjoying long, successful careers.
At Florida International University’s Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences, we have found one of the most effective ways to bolster this pipeline is by offering academic-practice partnerships between nursing schools and local providers, hospitals and health systems. This innovative model has helped our institution grow its nursing program by 100% in two years, enabling the recruitment and retention of a talented, diverse pool of students from the local community, including the neighboring Caribbean region. These partnerships provide students with scholarships, real-world training, improved clinical judgment, and job security once they graduate. Job security also helps incentivize more nurses to remain in South Florida after graduation, improving access and quality of care in the underserved communities that benefit most from their talent.
An important part of making this partnership flourish is fostering an inclusive and supportive environment that ensures our diverse student body feels comfortable, empowered and heard — all of which helps improve student outcomes and prevent attrition. Faculty also place importance on promoting interprofessional collaboration, advanced research in health care delivery, and community engagement to further enrich the learning environment for our students. Once our students graduate and begin their nursing careers at our partner provider organizations in South Florida, they are in the best position to understand the unique identities and socio-economic background of their patients, helping to improve health care outcomes.
This model has proven successful for us and our partners, and we hope to be a model for other schools of nursing. But we know we cannot do it alone.
In order to meet future demand and fill the gap of as many as 450,000 nurses expected by 2025, we must more than double the number of new nursing graduates entering and staying in the nursing workforce every year for three years. To meet these challenges head-on, policymakers at the state and federal levels should prioritize funding for critical nursing education programs that are working tirelessly to grow America’s nursing pipeline.
Programs like Florida’s Linking Industry to Nursing Education and Prepping Institutions, Programs, Employers, and Learners through Incentives for Nursing Education, which providing increased funding to nursing schools that meet certain requirements, are critical to ensuring schools have the capacity and resources necessary to grow America’s nursing workforce and mitigate the impact shortages have on our health care system. Florida’s substantial commitment to nursing schools — $125 million in the 2022-2023 fiscal year alone — is vital to easing the crisis and is one potential reason why Florida’s nurse vacancy rate is now below the national average.
Adopting similar programs to those in Florida could boost the nursing pipeline nationwide. Investing in nursing schools that attract, retain and connect students to health care facilities in their local communities is one of the best ways policymakers can help reverse the nursing shortage, ensure better access to care for patients, and build a strong, sustainable and more diverse nursing workforce.
Dr. Nola Holness is chair of the Undergraduate Nursing Department at Florida International University in Miami. Dr. Victor Delgado is a clinical associate professor in the Undergraduate Nursing Department at Florida International University.
