UMM to launch accelerated program to boost nursing enrollment, media report

Portland Press Herald, Bangor Daily News, Maine Public, Mainebiz, News Center Maine, WABI (Channel 5), WVII (Channel 7), WMTW (Channel 8 on Portland) Fiddlehead Focus, Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel reported on the University of Maine System’s plan to double its nursing enrollment over the next five years. The plan includes adding 1,000 new slots for students wishing to pursue a nursing degree online, the reports state. Health care leaders are working to attract 250 new nurses to Maine, and are partnering with the state’s colleges and universities to graduate an additional 400 license-eligible nursing students each year to counteract 3,200 vacant nursing positions expected across the state by 2025, a deficit that will hit hardest in rural Maine, University of Maine System Chancellor James Page said. As part of the plan, the University of Maine at Machias will launch an accelerated nursing degree program, media reported. The plan hinges, in part, on a bond issue this November that would authorize $49 million in funds to the university system for infrastructure improvements, according to Maine Public. MSN News carried the BDN article.