Nursing shortage looms in Iowa

There’s a nursing shortage in Iowa today, and it’ll get worse according to the Iowa Council of Nurses. Bonnie Wiltse, a nurse for the past 50 years, is project director of the Council’s workforce initiative.Wiltse says there’s almost a three thousand nurse shortage in Iowa. Wiltse says a new state program should be launched to coordinate hiring nurses, and recruiting people to the profession. Admissions to nursing programs are down about 40 percent. By 2009, over 60 percent of Iowa nurses will be either retired or over 50 years of age. Wiltse says it’s time to recruit differently to really tell people what nursing is like.Wiltse says changes are needed for the more “experienced” nurses as there’s a lot of physical labor involved in the profession.Wiltse says her group wants more state forgivable loans for nursing education and better wages for not only nurses but nurses aides.