{"id":1867,"date":"2026-06-11T11:03:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T11:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1867"},"modified":"2026-06-11T11:03:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T11:03:22","slug":"arizona-nursing-shortage-worst-in-nation-accelerated-program-aims-to-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1867","title":{"rendered":"Arizona nursing shortage worst in nation, accelerated program aims to help"},"content":{"rendered":"
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TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – Arizona has the worst nursing shortage in the nation, according to the state nursing board, and an accelerated Tucson program is helping students get into the field more quickly.<\/p>\n

Read more Phoenix massage therapist accused of sexual abuse of client<\/a><\/p>\n

Arizona was projected to have 28,100 nursing vacancies by 2025, making it the worst nursing shortage in the country.<\/p>\n

Jennifer Morelli, nursing program director at Pima Medical Institute, works as a bedside nurse and sees the shortage firsthand.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s harder to round on all the patients, give that quality care that all the patients obviously deserve,\u201d Morelli said.<\/p>\n

Students notice the shortage during their required clinicals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe nurses are constantly overrun with patients and they need help, but they can\u2019t get any help, and we\u2019re kind of their best help,\u201d said Gavin Small, a nursing student at Pima Medical Institute.<\/p>\n

Small said nurses shouldn\u2019t have to rely on students, and that\u2019s one reason he wants to enter the field as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is, in my opinion, the definition of human compassion,\u201d Small said. \u201cIf you enjoy being with people and you enjoy taking care of them, it is perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pima Medical Institute has an accelerated program to get students into the nursing field faster.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe sooner we can get students out there with an associate\u2019s with the hands-on skills is key, knowing they can continue their education once they\u2019re out there and working,\u201d Morelli said.<\/p>\n

National Council Licensure Exams for Nursing show 91 percent of Pima Medical Institute students pass the exam, on par with the Pima Community College program.<\/p>\n

The accelerated program costs around $60,000 for 20 months of instruction. Small said the cost makes sense when compared to a four-year university.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt kind of cuts some of that time down. It can cut down on cost because it doesn\u2019t have all that living expenses,\u201d Small said.<\/p>\n

Small said he\u2019ll start his career of compassion as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s something deep-rooted in it, where you just want to do it,\u201d Small said.<\/p>\n

The deadline to enroll in the nursing program for fall is coming up in August.<\/p>\n

Isabela Lisco<\/b><\/u><\/i> is a <\/i>Report for America<\/b><\/u><\/i> corpsmember covering education solutions for 13 News. Her position is made possible through funding from Report for America and the <\/i>Arizona Local News Foundation\u2019s<\/b><\/u><\/i> Arizona Community Collaborative Fund.<\/i><\/p>\n

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Read more Uranium mine near Grand Canyon seeks higher arsenic limit in groundwater<\/a><\/p>\n

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Arizona was projected to have 28,100 nursing vacancies by 2025, making it the worst nursing shortage in the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nArizona nursing shortage worst in nation, accelerated program aims to help - Tucson Moving Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1867\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Arizona nursing shortage worst in nation, accelerated program aims to help - Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Arizona was projected to have 28,100 nursing vacancies by 2025, making it the worst nursing shortage in the country.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1867\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-11T11:03:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1867#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1867\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\"},\"headline\":\"Arizona nursing shortage worst in nation, accelerated program aims to help\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-11T11:03:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1867\"},\"wordCount\":500,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1867#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/c8e29cde1df1f237008728498ff43036.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1867#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1867\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1867\",\"name\":\"Arizona nursing shortage worst in nation, accelerated program aims to help - 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