Last week, a colleague worked her fourth consecutive extended shift. The position beside her has been vacant since 2021. Nobody is coming.
That issue represents a structural failure — one playing out in emergency departments, rural clinics, and obstetrics units across Indiana. And without deliberate legislative action it will get worse.
Indiana’s nursing workforce mirrors a troubling national pattern: nearly 40% of registered nurses are 55 or older and approaching retirement, with no equivalent wave behind them to fill those beds. Meanwhile, more than half of Indiana’s 92 counties face primary care shortages. As of December 2025, HRSA had designated 169 primary care Health Professional Shortage Areas across the state, affecting millions of Hoosiers…