High nursing vacancy and turnover rates in Florida continue to plague the profession, and without corrective action, the Florida Center for Nursing expects the shortage to intensify.

“The survey reflected what has been reported anecdotally and gave us some specific information,” says Mary Lou Brunell, RN, MSN, executive director of the state-mandated Florida Center for Nursing (FCN), based in Orlando.

Brunell suggests a multifaceted approach to increasing the number of nurses. “Expansion and production from the educational system of new nurses is critical as a component of addressing the shortage, but we also need to focus on retention,” Brunell says. “We need to retain the experiential knowledge. That means we need to look at the work environment in all settings and how we can accommodate the aging nurse workforce and whether or not we can extend the work life of nurses and postpone retirements.”  Read more