Scholarship program aims to stem New Jersey nursing shortage

The New Jersey Nursing Initiative is a new $22 million program aimed at averting a critical nursing shortage in the state. A 2002 study released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services predicted a nationwide shortfall of about 800,000 registered nurses by 2020. In 2007, the New Jersey Collaborating Center for Nursing at Rutgers calculated that a third of New Jersey nurses would retire within 10 years.