There is a nursing shortage in Indiana with experts saying that altogether Indiana’s hospitals are understaffed by about 4,300 nurses.
Organizations like the Indiana Hospital Association have done what they can to get hospitals staffed, but they say one thing that is really hampering efforts to find enough nurses is the state’s licensing requirements for nurses to work in Indiana.
They say that the state’s reciprocity process of getting nurses who move to Indiana from out-of-state licensed to work in Indiana takes too long.
There is a program in place for medical personnel to work immediately with a temporary license while their full license is worked through the system.
However the program is only good as long as the federal COVID emergency order is in place.
The hope is that lawmakers will draft legislation in the upcoming session of the General Assembly to address the state’s slow licensing practices.
