The Arizona Board of Nursing says Arizona ranks among the top five states with the most severe health-care staffing shortages.
“We are putting programs in place to have transition to practice where new nurses are supported with mentors and formal onboarding programs that will support them during their first year,” said Dr. Sherrie Palmieri, vice president of the Arizona Nurses Association.
Palmieri said the group is making an effort to put a dent in the nearly 20% of nurses who quit in their first year.
Those efforts, she said — as well as the $90 million the Legislature approved for nursing programs in 2022 — could start to bear fruit as more students graduate.
