Dahlonega resident and registered nurse Cindy Balkstra, who is currently president of the 2,400-member Georgia Nurses Association, said the students attended seminars in the morning to learn about the legislative process, and the nurses met one-on-one with lawmakers in the afternoon.

“We have five main goals we want to accomplish this year, but probably at the top of everyone’s list is addressing the nursing shortage,” Balkstra said.

Toni Barnett, head of the nursing program at North Georgia College & State University, said the problem isn’t that there’s a lack of people wanting to become nurses.

“Each year for the last three years, we’ve had over 500 applications for 100- to- 150 slots,” she said. “All the schools are the same way.”

The issue, Balkstra said, is that there aren’t enough instructors to teach these aspiring students. Read more