AdventHealth University is opening a new campus in Tampa to train aspiring nurses who will provide a pipeline to staff the school’s affiliated hospitals or find work at other facilities in Florida. The new school reflects broad efforts by the health care industry to recruit and train the next generation of nurses, which is beginning to turn the tide on a demand for RNs that still exceeds supply.
When it opens in January, AHU Tampa will offer an Associate of Science in Nursing degree each fall and spring trimester, an 18- to 24-month program that prepares students to complete their licensing exam and begin their professional practices. The school will also benefit from a new Clinical Scholar role for nurses at AdventHealth who are interested in combining both practicing and teaching the profession of nursing.
The Tampa campus in a business park located off Interstate 75 includes state-of-the- art classrooms, a library and offices to support students along with 28 new faculty and support jobs. While AHU continues major additions to its flagship Orlando campus that supports two dozen health-related degree programs, from associates to doctorates, the faith-based, nonprofit school’s leadership says it has made nurse training a top priority.
The school plans to double its enrollment in nursing and other programs over the next few years. Its Tampa campus is slated to graduate some 250 nurses through 2030, with about 80% of them finding work within AdventHealth’s network of hospitals.
As a Seventh-day Adventist Christian institution, AHU offers a holistic approach to training — for the body, mind and spirit — and views nursing as part of its health care ministry. The program exposes students to the profession’s rewards and hardships alike, producing “safe, resilient, confident and compassionate nurses,” says Elizabeth Arroyo, assistant dean of nursing for AHU Tampa. “Becoming a nurse is truly a calling. I’d say nursing school is for me personally one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done.”
A widely cited 2021 Florida Hospital Association analysis shows the state faces a shortfall of 59,000 nurses by 2035. But an increase in training and recruitment strategies are helping, even if the long-term shortage remains daunting. Last year, AdventHealth and Orlando Health both helped fund the University of Central Florida College of Nursing’s new facility at Lake Nona. And HCA Healthcare’s Galen College of Nursing announced plans to open an Orlando campus, among other efforts.
“The shortage in the nursing workforce nationwide, as well as in Florida, is expected to rise significantly as baby boomers retire,” says Robin McGuinness, chief nurse executive for the AdventHealth West Florida Division. “It is key that we increase the number of seats in nursing programs so we can stay ahead of the anticipated shortages in the coming years.”