Florida’s nurse employers know what’s causing the severe nursing shortage in the Sunshine State. That doesn’t mean they’ll be able to put a stop to it in the near future.

Two surveys recently released by the Florida Center for Nursing show that the shortage is expected to intensify because of a lack of faculty and clinical space. In the first survey, titled “2007 Nurse Employer Survey: Methods and Statewide Results,” nearly 700 employers reported more than 5,000 vacant positions (or a rate just greater than 9%) for RNs. Many employers said they couldn’t afford the budgeted positions they needed.

The second survey, titled “2007 Nursing Education Program Annual Report and Workforce Survey” reported that nursing programs in the state turned away more than 10,000 qualified applicants last school year. Further worrying was the fact that many nurse educators, the backbone of the nursing programs, expect to retire within the next two years.

Sources: The Florida Center for Nursing and South Florida Business Journal