Florida is in need of a few good nurses.
12,493, to be exact.
That's the number of vacant registered nursing positions across the state, according to a new report from the Florida Center for Nursing. Nursing shortages have come and gone for decades. But there's reason to believe this one could be a prolonged problem. Observers are particularly troubled because the number of vacancies has increased more than 30 percent since 2013, according to the report. Compounding the problem, another 9,947 nursing positions are expected to be created in 2016.