Maine, Other States Face Shortage Of Nurses

AUGUSTA, Maine -- As baby boomers age, a shortage of nurses across the nation is expected to get worse, according to a national nurses' organization.

Maine will not avoid that shortage. Dr. Barbara Higgins is chairwoman of nursing at Husson College in Bangor. Higgins said there's a shortage now, but it will hit the hardest in the next 10 to 15 years.

That's because the graying baby boomer generation will need more care. At the same time, current nurses, and those who teach nursing, are getting older as well.


The American Association of Colleges of Nursing said the shortage of registered nurses will increase to 340,000 by 2020. The good news is that the number is much smaller than earlier projections of more than twice that figure.

The nurses' association also said enrollment across the country has been increasing for the past six years. That's the case at Maine's Husson College, which is also seeing more than a 50 percent increase in its graduation rate.