SBCC officials look to expand classes, hire more teachers to address nationwide shortage
A full-time job earning $70,000 a year was waiting for her after graduation. But Kahea Kahui abandoned her plan to join the City College nursing program.
Had she put her name on the 331-student waiting list, she would not be guaranteed a seat until 2011.
"I just don't know anybody in their right mind who would wait that long," said Kahui, who came to Santa Barbara from Hawaii to study nursing. "It seems ridiculous to wait if there are other options, such as dental hygiene."
Kahui is not the only one unwilling to wait.
The nationwide demand for nurses is being exacerbated by a crippling shortage of young students graduating credential programs combined with a quickly aging workforce. Only 10 percent of California's nurses are younger than 30 years old, according to a University of California San Francisco study released in June.
California ranks No. 49 in the country in number of registered nurses per capita. But the problem is dire nationwide. The need for nurses across the country will reach 1 million by 2012, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Full Story:
California's Crisis: Hurting for new nurses [Channels Online, CA]
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