The shortage of registered nurses in Pennsylvania is shrinking, in part, because of the efforts of the Pennsylvania Center for Health Careers, Department of Labor & Industry acting Secretary Sandi Vito announced.

The information is included in updates to the 2005 reports "The Registered Nurse Workforce in Pennsylvania" and "The Licensed Practical Nurse Workforce in Pennsylvania," released today and available online at http://www.paworkforce.state.pa.us.

"I am pleased to see that our investments and efforts to address the need for nurses in Pennsylvania have reduced the shortage originally estimated in 2005," Vito said. "By helping academic institutions hire faculty and add classes, the Pennsylvania Center for Health Careers is helping to increase the number of skilled, qualified nurses in Pennsylvania."

According to the latest forecasts, the shortage of registered nurses, or RNs, projected for 2010 is between 8,000 and 14,400 of an estimated statewide demand for 146,000 RNs -- between 400 and 1,700 fewer than the shortage reported in the original 2005 report…