Bushnell University's plans to double its nursing program numbers gets a boost of more than $4 million dollars in grant funding.
Staff in the School of Nursing say most of those nurses will stay local beefing up Lane County's healthcare workforce. According to the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), overall, the nursing workforce has grown by just over 15 percent since 2020; but only about 74 percent of the state's licensed registered nurses were practicing in 2023.
OHA says the state's education programs only graduate enough nurses to fill about 72 percent of spots available each year.