CNEE becomes Minnesota’s official nursing workforce center

It is estimated nursing education programs in Minnesota will be graduating 30,000 less nurses than the state’s health care system needs in 2030. Citing the growing needs of the nursing workforce in the state, the Minnesota Center for Nursing (MCN) board voted to dissolve and transfer its membership in the National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers to the Center for Nursing Equity and Excellence (CNEE) housed at the University of Minnesota.

CNEE was launched in 2022 through a partnership between the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State. The center works with every school of nursing in the state, health care providers and others invested in improving health care in Minnesota to increase enrollment in nurse education programs at all degree levels, expand equity in the nursing workforce, increase the success of nursing students, and support nurses to flourish as they care for Minnesotans.

With the MCN’s transfer of membership, CNEE now serves as Minnesota’s official nursing workforce entity. It is one of 42 nationally, focused on addressing the nursing shortage within its state and contributing to the national effort to assure an adequate number of qualified nurses to meet the health needs of the U.S. population.

“Through the forum we can be working in collaboration with other states to learn what has been successful and fine-tune those solutions to suit Minnesota,” says Jennifer Eccles, PhD, RN, FAADN, CNEE’s executive director who joined the staff of the School of Nursing earlier this summer. “As Minnesota’s representative to the forum, we are contributing to building a robust national nursing workforce, which includes excellence in nursing care and equitable care for all Minnesotans.”

“We commend the Minnesota Center for Nursing for the bold decision to transfer their membership to the Center for Nursing Excellence and Equity,” says Connie White Delaney, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, FNAP, dean of the School of Nursing. “The workforce crisis we face will require a coalition of all and CNEE has become uniquely positioned to bring institutions and industry together to advance nursing in Minnesota.”

States such Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Montana, New Mexico and Washington have recently passed legislation or increased funding to expand nursing workforce solutions. At the federal level, the National Nursing Workforce Center Act (S.1150/H.R. 2411) has been introduced to grow nursing workforce centers in their missions to ensure a robust nursing workforce in each state.