BONNER COUNTY, Idaho — The 2024 nursing workforce report is out and in Idaho, even with gains in the number of graduates statewide, there just doesn’t seem to be enough nurses to keep pace with the need, according to the Idaho Nursing Center.
Cyndy Donato of Kootenai Health said, “Idaho's nursing landscape faces challenges due to a growing population and increasing retirements.”
Looking at the big picture for agency-wide hiring practices, Donato said Kootenai Health has been concentrating efforts on retaining long-term staffing and reducing the number of travel nurses.
In the new nursing report, as of June 2024, the workforce consisted of 22,845 registered nurses.
While this is up 1,708 registered nurses since 2022, it still does not meet the state’s health care demands.
About 7% of Idaho's RNs and LPNs have also reached retirement age, further impacting workforce availability.
In previous reporting by The Press, NIC President Nick Swayne noted that issues recruiting and retaining faculty in the nursing program is a huge factor in the ability to expand to meet the need for nurses locally and statewide.
Although NIC has the space to increase nursing cohorts from 40 to 60 students per semester, the college needs one nursing instructor for every 10 students, but that staffing goal has been difficult to remedy because of current compensation rates.
Erlene Pickett, dean of nursing and health professions at NIC, said applications have finally started to increase after nursing programs took a hit during early pandemic difficulties.
To read the full story, visit our news partner, the Bonner County Daily Bee.
