Imagine being on a waiting list for four years just to enter a nursing program. Now, imagine that scenario in Colorado, which is among the top-ten states in this nation’s nursing shortage. Here’s the problem - Nurshing schools in Colorado don’t have enough nurses with advanced degrees to teach students in the 11 programs spread throughout Colorado’s Community College Nursing Program. On top of that, there is a shortage of nurses for students to follow and gain hands-on experience to carry them into the workforce. This limits growth for the schools and creates a backlog of students who want to fill positions in a desperate nursing shortage.
Currently in Colorado, there are 4,200 people on the waiting list. Those qualified applicants who apply today can expect to wait four years to enter.
IN order to fill staffing vacancies, hospitals depend on part-time nurses brought on through temporary staffing agencies or through staffing firms that find nurses from other parts of the country - travel nurses - to fill the gaps.
For example, Exempla Lutheran Medical Center, in Wheat Ridge, CO has 800 staff nurses and 40 travel nurses, said Ann Evans, vice president and chief nursing officer.
Exempla St. Joseph Hospital, in Denver, has 880 staff nurses and about 50 travel nurses.
As a travel nurse, you are in demand. If anyone tells you otherwise they are wrong. With states like Colorado in such dire need, you have the upper-hand to decide where you want to take your next assignment.