Advancement of Education

Pennsylvania, like the rest of the nation, is experiencing a nursing shortage. This shortage is predicted to grow to well over 500,000 registered nurses nationwide by 2025 (Buerhaus, Staiger, French, & Auerbach, 2009). While producing more nursing graduates has been the primary focus of efforts to combat this shortage, HRSA officials have concluded that “to meet the projected growth in demand for RN services, the U.S. must graduate approximately 90 percent more nurses from U.S. nursing programs relative to the baseline graduate projections”(Dall, Biviano, Tise, Fritz, & Spencer, 2004, p. 10). Enrollment in nursing schools has …