For Carole Billington, the nationwide nursing shortage is far from just a headline — it’s a reality.
As president and chief nursing officer of Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, Massachusetts, and a registered nurse herself, she has seen firsthand what happens when there aren’t enough nurses to meet the often dire health care needs of her community.
“This shortage is expected to intensify as our baby boomers age and the need for health care grows,” Billington says. “We know that there are really motivated, enthusiastic learners in our community who want to become registered nurses.”
To address this nationwide challenge, Northeastern University officially opened its Fall River hub, where it will expand its accelerated bachelor of science in nursing program. Already popular at Northeastern’s Burlington, Massachusetts, and Charlotte, North Carolina, campuses, the four-semester program creates an on-ramp for people looking to shift into health care later in life or just advance their skills. Northeastern celebrated the Fall River opening alongside local health care partners and elected officials with a ribbon-cutting on Wednesday.
“The whole idea is to be in the real world and address challenges and provide solutions that are meaningful to the real world and not in the walls, if you will, of institutions of higher education,” Carmen Castañeda Sceppa, dean and professor of Bouvé College of Health Sciences, said at the facility’s grand opening.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. has faced an increasingly critical shortage of nurses due not only to the burnout and stress associated with the pandemic. A lack of educators to train the next generation of nurses combined with an aging workforce has exacerbated the situation.
