Pennsylvania is experiencing a severe nursing shortage, with hospitals reporting a 14% vacancy rate for registered nurses, particularly high in rural areas. This shortage extends beyond hospitals, affecting long-term care facilities, outpatient clinics, and home health agencies. The crisis is rooted in longstanding issues such as educational bottlenecks, where nursing programs across the U.S. are forced to turn away many qualified applicants due to faculty shortages and limited resources. In 2023 alone, over 65,000 applicants were denied admission to nursing programs, highlighting the urgent need for workforce solutions.
Imagine nearly every seat in Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center − over 20,000 seats − are empty. That's the scale of Pennsylvania's projected shortfall of registered nurses by 2026.
This shortage, of course, is not just in hospitals. It also affects long-term care facilities, outpatient clinics and home health agencies, which compete with hospitals for a limited pool of registered nurses.
Pennsylvania's nursing shortage is the result of long-standing issues in education, workforce retention and health care delivery. Nursing schools in Pennsylvania and nationwide turn away thousands of qualified applicants each year.
More than 65,000 qualified applications were turned away from U.S. nursing programs in 2023 alone, according to a report from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
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