"At a time when the pandemic has exposed a growing shortage of nurses, it should have been good news that there were more than 1,200 applicants to enter the associate degree program in nursing at Long Beach City College.
But the California community college took only 32 of them.
North of here, California State University, East Bay isn’t enrolling any nursing students at all until at least next fall.
Higher education was struggling to keep up with the skyrocketing demand for nurses even before the COVID-19 crisis. Now it’s falling further behind.
Health protocols are limiting in-person instruction. Nursing teachers are quitting in large numbers, while others are nearing retirement. Hospitals are stretched too thin to provide required hands-on clinical training. And budgets are so constrained that student nurses are forced to buy their own personal protection equipment, or PPE." …
It’s quite true. I was just speaking to a friend about this. So many med/high stat kids getting turned away from nursing programs. Very sad for the kids, and sad for the future of healthcare. My DD may not end up in nursing even though she is more than capable, but also wants a full classic college experience.
Agreed! Our local Community College does not plan on opening up enrollment again until Fall 2022 with start in Spring 2023. We are in a rural area and have 3 hospitals that are being hit hard right now. I believe this will only make the shortage worse. My D had planned on attending their RN program, but she has completed her pre reqs already with dual enrollment. So now she is forced to apply at the CSUs and UCs. Unfortunate to us because of the cost difference and with what seems to be an average 2% admittance rate, not sure what to expect. Tough times for this situation right now. On a side note, because of the shortage my employer is hiring student nurses and newly graduated students to help in the hospital. Maybe more hospitals need to do something like this, instead of turning students away.