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Stockton, CA - Labor and Workforce Development Agency Secretary Victoria Bradshaw joined nurse education leaders and Interim Community Colleges Chancellor Diane Woodruff today to highlight the progress Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration has made in increasing the number of RN graduates.

A report released today by the Labor and Workforce Development Agency shows that statewide, nursing programs are projected to graduate 10,391 RNs this year, a 68 percent increase since 2003-04 when Governor Schwarzenegger began to address the critical shortage of nurses.

In April 2005, the governor launched the California Nurse Education Initiative and formed a task force to oversee efforts to expand nurse education capacity. Since then, 23 new nursing education programs have opened and more than 22,500 students are enrolled in California nursing programs, a 24.7 percent increase.

San Joaquin Delta College, which will graduate 79 nursing students later this month, is a partner in the San Joaquin Valley Partnership's Nurse Education Consortium, which received a $500,000 grant from the Schwarzenegger administration to expand nursing education in the region.

"Our partners in the community college system, UC and CSU, are meeting the challenge issued by Governor Schwarzenegger and producing more nurses and nursing faculties to narrow the gap we have," Bradshaw said. "It's thrilling to see these new RN graduate candidates and know they will be caring for patients in hospitals and doctors' offices in a matter of weeks."

Dr. Diane Woodruff, Interim Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, commented that "I am proud to say that California Community Colleges train 70 percent of the nurses in California, and we feel very good about the part we play in the Governor's Nurse Education Initiative. To respond to the California nursing shortage, 74 community colleges have increased the number of nursing students for the past several years and we graduated 7,700 nurses this past year."

California currently has 647 RNs per 100,000 residents, an improvement since 2005 when it had 589 RNs per 100,000 residents. If current trends continue, California will surpass the national average of 825 RNs per 100,000 in 14 years.

The Governor's initiative is anchored by a $90 million, five-year public-private partnership that focuses on expansion of nurse education capacity, faculty development, student support services, including loan forgiveness, and additional funding for nursing schools.

For more information on the Governor's Nurse Education Initiative, go to www.labor.ca.gov.

SOURCE: California Labor and Workforce Development Agency