State government dollars plus hospital coordination has added up to more Florida nurses

DAYTONA BEACH — Gov. Ron DeSantis visited Daytona Beach Tuesday morning to celebrate the results of the millions of dollars the state government and hospitals have poured into nursing education and training the past few years.

Close to $400 million has been invested in building the ranks of Florida nurses since 2022, the governor told about 130 Volusia County leaders gathered at an invite-only event at Daytona State College .

That tally includes $130 million in the new $116.5 billion state government budget for the fiscal year that began July 1.

That investment has yielded a 25% increase in nursing students, and those Florida pupils have an average passing grade of 92%, DeSantis said.

DeSantis' mother was a nurse for more than 40 years, and he grew up seeing the importance of the profession.

"You really can't put a price tag on what nurses do," he said.

The governor said the COVID pandemic made clear the need to increase the number of nurses in Florida, and the state's steadily growing population has also fueled the need to get more nurses in hospitals and doctors' offices. About 1,200 people move to Florida every day.

Florida has over 3 million registered nurses, but the state still needs more, DeSantis said.

"We're doing this because it's the right thing to do," he said. "We could have found ourselves far behind the 8 ball if we hadn't done that."

Hospitals doing their part

Halifax Hospital and AdventHealth have also contributed money that goes toward nursing education, faculty recruitment and equipment. Halifax recently donated $1 million, and Advent gave $900,000.

Halifax Health has contributed a total of $3 million since 2019, said Jeff Feasel, president and CEO of Halifax Health.

The Halifax board and Daytona State board have had a long relationship, and their cooperation has resulted in doubling the number of DSC nursing students, he said.

Halifax has hired 380 nurses from the Daytona State College program, and the community has been able to avoid a brain drain, Feasel said.

"The nursing program at Daytona State College is topnotch," he said, noting the pass rate for Daytona State nursing students last year was 99%.

Sixteen Daytona State College students who are just beginning the school's two-year nursing program were in the audience at DeSantis' talk Tuesday. They've already taken general courses at the college, and they've passed the entrance exam needed to enter the nursing program.

They all wore pine green uniforms and white tennis shoes so new they've yet to be blemished by a single scuff or speck of dirt.

Also at Tuesday's event was a Daytona State nursing student who has just one more semester left in the program. Alexis Shay, who has been on the dean's list with top grades, was one of the speakers at the gathering.

She explained how she's been working in Halifax Health's pediatric unit as a student nurse intern the past two years while she completes her studies.

"Ever since I was little I always wanted to be a nurse, and now I'm living out my dream," Shay said.

More investments in education

"The legislature was right to step up when we asked them to do it," DeSantis said. "I'm excited about the programs."

He said the state has invested $8.5 billion in all types of workforce education since 2019, and has held college tuition steady for students in all majors.

"It will remain affordable," he said.

State dollars have also flowed to Daytona State's Deltona-based programs.

On Aug. 22, college students, faculty, staff, board members and community members took part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate Daytona State College's new Deltona campus building that will help accommodate a wider range of offerings, including the fast-growing sonography field.

The new, two-story, 30,000-square-foot building includes classrooms, medical simulation labs, offices, a bookstore and space for CNC machining equipment.

The building will house the nursing, diagnostic medical sonography and CNC machining programs.

The Florida Legislature provided some $19 million to Daytona State over a five-year period to make construction possible, college officials said.

Read more: Daytona State College opens new Deltona building for sonography, nursing, CNC machining

Although no one asked him about it at Tuesday's gathering, DeSantis defended former President Donald Trump's recent visit to Arlington National Cemetery. DeSantis pointed out that Trump was invited to be there by Gold Star families, and they asked him to pose for photos.

Trump was invited to take part in a wreath-laying ceremony by families of troops killed in the final days of America's withdrawal from Afghanistan. Some maintain that Trump's team violated Army regulations and federal law by taking photos and filming at the cemetery in ways they should not have, and used the cemetery for political purposes.

You can reach Eileen at Eileen.Zaffiro@news-jrnl.com

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: State government dollars plus hospital coordination has added up to more Florida nurses