USF College of Nursing expanding undergraduate education as need for nurses grows
TAMPA, Fla. - Florida is in critical need of nurses with projections showing that the state will face a shortage of more than 59,000 RNs and LPNs by 2035.
The University of South Florida's College of Nursing is aiming to help fill the pipeline by expanding undergraduate education. The nearly $40 million in the recently approved state budget will make those goals a reality.
The COVID-19 pandemic made an already bad situation even worse for nurses and healthcare workers.
"We felt like we wanted to have more of an impact," said USF Health College of Nursing Dean Usha Menon.
Menon said leaders took action early to come up with a long-term plan to help reverse the nursing shortage. It started with a major renovation of the College of Nursing building at USF’s Tampa campus.
"We need new simulation space, we need larger classrooms and we want to redesign how nursing education is delivered," Menon said.
In the state's 2022-23 budget, $33 million was approved to fund these upgrades and expansion. The overhaul will also make room for increased enrollment.
By 2028, USF officials said more than 750 undergraduate nurses will get a degree from the College of Nursing, which is a roughly 200% increase over that timeframe.
"Which means that we're going to be enrolling anywhere between 600 to 650 students over the next five years," said Menon. "New students, that is, plus our existing cohorts."
She said the increase will be gradual with a focus on student success.
An additional $6.9 million in recurring funding in the budget will allow the college to hire at least 40 new faculty members and 30 new staff positions. Partnerships with local and regional hospitals and healthcare systems will ensure nursing students get the hands-on experience they need.
"Really thinking about embedding the students earlier into these hospital systems so that they get a feel for what professional practice is," Menon explained.
Menon said they are expecting to start using the new space in 2024.
The Florida Center for Nursing will also now be housed at the USF Health College of Nursing. The center is funded by the State and will monitor the supply and demand in the nursing workforce. This insight will inform policies and address the nursing shortage here in the sunshine state.