BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — Idaho is struggling with a severe nursing shortage, ranking 50th nationally in nurses per capita. In response, Northwest Nazarene University (NNU) launched the “We Care” campaign, a $15 million initiative to expand its nursing program to meet urgent health care needs throughout the state.

Funds raised will be used to upgrade NNU facilities, expand classrooms and equip laboratories, enabling the program to train more future nurses. Dr. Linda Valenzuela, dean of the UNN College of Nursing, explained that the rapid growth of the nursing program has outpaced the university’s current resources.

“Nurses are in high demand,” Valenzuela said. “As we have grown to meet the needs of the community, our spaces have simply outgrown. » The initiative will allow the NNU to implement more simulation-based training, which requires currently limited dedicated space.

With this expanded program, NNU plans to admit more students each year, helping to address Idaho’s nursing shortage by preparing graduates for critical roles in hospitals, nursing homes and facilities care providers across the state.

“We want to be able to graduate as many students as possible,” Valenzuela said. “The last thing this community needs is to limit the number of nursing graduates due to space or resource constraints.

NNU’s faith-based mission is at the heart of its approach. “We believe, as a faith-based institution, that the students God sends us are the ones we want to enroll. We don’t want to have to tell them to put their dreams on hold,” Valenzuela said. “Our goal is to enroll as many people as possible, without waiting lists. »

Once in the field, these graduates will be equipped to meet the challenges of patient care. “We don’t see patients at their best, but when they are in crisis,” Valenzuela said. “A nurse must be sensitive, intuitive and caring, in addition to all the requirements required to be highly qualified. »

NNU’s expanded program is expected to play a crucial role in strengthening Idaho’s healthcare workforce, training more nurses each year to meet the state’s healthcare needs.