Schools are seeing a record number of enrollments in nursing programs as Pennsylvania prepares for one of the worst shortages in the nation.
Data from the Hospital and Health System Association shows Pennsylvania is expected to still have a shortage of 20,000 nurses in hospitals by 2026.
Nursing schools are seeing record enrollments and hoping to combat that statistic.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country, nurses were at the forefront of the media.
Despite wanting to be a nurse at a young age, Tyler Waltenbaugh ultimately went to college for business and entered medical sales.
“After the pandemic just realizing how much help this country needed and the demand for nurses, that’s what kind of pushed me back into it,” Waltenbaugh said.
Years later, he’s now back having just graduated and will start his new nursing job at Forbes.
“Working in healthcare it’s immediately gratifying, the only thing is five years down the road hopefully I will have touched the lives of many more people than those I have in my early career,” Waltenbaugh said.