On July 8, Pasco-Hernando State College announced the receipt of $1.5 million in state appropriations to fund the establishment of their new Nursing and Allied Health Advancement Institute. A notice from the school’s office of marketing and communications stated that the “innovative and collaborative” institute will help to address the concerns of shortages of allied health and nursing professionals in the state of Florida.
The academic center, which will be built on the state college’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch in Wesley Chapel, will train a quality workforce that should help to ameliorate the declining number of nurses and healthcare providers. Pasco-Hernando President Jesse Pisors and company recognize the importance of breaking ground on the health-focused institute.
“Higher Education institutions, including PHSC, desperately seek highly qualified faculty, and institutions of health services struggle with significant gaps in nursing and allied health employees,’” said Pisors, Ed.D., PHSC president. “The circumstance is amplified because improved retention and development strategies are critically needed, and without a plan in place, a real threat exists in the health care system. The Nursing and Allied Health Advancement Institute will provide these plans and focus on solutions in collaboration with significant stakeholders.”
Just how critical is this need? In April of 2023, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing announced its findings regarding the falling number of nurses in a panel titled “Nursing at the Crossroads: A Call to Action.” The research focused on the impact of Covid-19 on stress and burnout in the industry, and their research revealed a startling trend that has continued since.
The data found that roughly 100,000 nurses left this line of work “during the pandemic” and that 900,000 (one-fifth of the total of registered nurses) “intend to leave the workforce” by 2027. Breaking these numbers down further, we see that 610,388 cited an “intent to leave,” while another 188,962 RNs younger than 40 “reported similar intentions.” More details can be found in the NCSBN news release on the thirteenth of that month.
Florida House of Representative Member Randy Maggard, who is an alumnus of the state college, was proud to help get the ball rolling for the project that hopes to reverse this rash of retirements and burnout, at least in part.
“Well-trained nurses and medical staff are needed over the next several decades not only for our community but for our entire state,” Representative Randy Maggard said. “I was honored to sponsor this funding request for my Alma Mater so that we can ensure our best and brightest have the opportunity to study nursing right here in our community. Through this program, these future nurses and medical professionals will have the tools they need to prevent a crisis-level nursing shortage in the future.”
PHSC offers this concept as a model to be used for similar concerns nationwide. As talented medical professionals are always a necessity, the college looks to utilize the institute to create more people in these fields. According to PHSC, this is part of a “multipronged, comprehensive, and collaborative approach” to increase the “talent pipeline” of faculty and employees in nursing and allied health roles. Now that the funds have been officially set aside, PHSC’s first priority will be to develop a strategic plan for the establishment of the institute.
