EMU expands nursing school to help meet nursing shortage

In case you have been living under a rock or not been to a hospital in years, there is a nursing shortage going on. Eastern Michigan University plans to do something about it.The university’s School of Nursing is expanding its programs to accommodate 102 more students next year. It’s not enough to staunch the 7,000 nurse shortage will be experiencing by 2010 (projected by the Michigan House Health Policy Committee) or the shortage of 18,000 nurses by 2015 predicted by the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth. But it’s a start. Those extra 102 nurses per year will help make an important dent. Especially considering that 90 percent of nursing students who go through EMU remain in Michigan.”Most programs talk about whether or not their students will have jobs when they graduate,” says Betty Beard, interim director of the EMU School of Nursing. “In nursing, we know that it’s not if they will get a job, but what job offer they will take.” This year, EMU was forced to turn away nearly 500 students who were interested in becoming nurses because there wasn’t enough room in the program. Let’s hope that other institutions follow their lead and expand their programs as well.Source: Eastern Michigan UniversityWriter: Jon Zemke