Walker speaks with WVII about increasing enrollment to meet nurse shortage
Mary Walker, director of the University of Maine School of Nursing, was interviewed by WVII (Channel 7) about increasing enrollment to meet the state’s growing nurse shortage. “Maine is experiencing a shortfall in nurses that is going to deepen across the next five years until there are about 3,200 nurses short of what we need to be able to deliver the care that we are delivering now,” Walker said. To help address the problem, UMaine has increased enrollment in its nursing program, according to the report. “We are on target to admit another 115 first-time nursing students in the fall, and we will continue to do that in our effort to address the continuing shortage,” Walker said. UMaine also is working with the University of Maine at Machias on a fast-track program for people that already have a bachelor’s degree and want to go into nursing, the report states.