IU boasts record-high nursing enrollment, yet there is still a shortage of nurses

Indianapolis, Indiana – The nursing program at Indiana University has 381 students enrolled on its three campuses in Bloomington, Indianapolis, and Fort Wayne.

It is the school’s greatest cohort in its 109-year history.

“I think retirements are on everyone’s minds as the average age of nurses have gotten older. Nurses are thinking about retirement in the next two to five years,” said Robin Newhouse, Dean of the IU School of Nursing in Indianapolis.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many professionals abandoned the field, but according to Newhouse, the profession was motivated by the part nurses performed in the crisis.

“It had the effect on people that wanted to come into nursing that experienced the pandemic and saw the role of nursing, the primacy of the relationship, the science of nursing, and wanted to come in,” said Newhouse.

These nurses must complete 900 practice hours over the course of around three years before they may graduate. For the next fall semester, 1,335 undergraduate students are returning to all three campuses.

“There are education opportunities for nurses that want to educate the next generation of nurses,” said Newhouse.

95% of IU nursing graduates, according to Dean Newhouse, apply for licensure in the state of Indiana. For those who already have a college degree in another field of study, Indiana University also offers an accelerated program that lasts approximately 16 months.