While local medical centers and clinics are struggling to fill the voids left by retiring physicians, nursing recruitment doesn’t pose as much of a problem.

Even though the average age of registered nurses in the country nearing retirement is climbing — the average age was 45.2 years in 2000 and 46.8 years in 2004 — it appears that Umpqua Community College’s nursing program is producing enough registered nurses to meet the local need.

Last June, 48 students graduated from UCC’s two-year nursing program and nearly all of the graduates are working in the nursing field, but not necessarily in Douglas County. Last year, fewer than half of the graduates were hired locally, Hendy said. This June, another 50 students are set to graduate, and hundreds of people will likely apply for the vacated slots, she said.

In each of the past few years, more than 220 people have applied for the 63 slots in the UCC nursing program, Hendy said. Nursing schools in bigger cities, like Portland, turn away even more applicants, she said.

While interest in nursing programs is plentiful, the number of nurses interested in becoming educators is lacking, Hendy said.

Nursing instructors at UCC need to have masters degrees, but nurses with masters degrees can make $80,000 to $90,000 per year in the field, compared to $45,000 to $50,000 as an instructor, Hendy said. For students graduating with hefty student loans, practicing would likely allow the nurse to pay back those loans quicker than if he or she went into teaching, Hendy said.

As a result, the Oregon Nurses Association is lobbying legislators for a loan-forgiveness program for nurses who return to teach, she said. The program would provide loan forgiveness of 20 percent per year for five years, thus alleviating some of the financial burden of obtaining the degree and encouraging more nurses to become educators, Hendy said.

The likelihood of the program receiving funding while the state is facing a financial crunch is unlikely, though, she said.