“We don’t just have students from Iowa that are in the nursing program, we have students from Missouri and all over, who don’t plan on staying to begin with,” said IHCC Nursing Instructor Jana Ogden.

There are Iowa students who are planning to stay put for now.

Ashley DeBoer, a second-year nursing student at IHCC, said she chose nursing because it’s something that she has always wanted to do. She also has family members who are already in the medical field.

DeBoer said the majority of her family lives in Iowa and she’s inclined to stay in the state, but ...

“I want to be in the nursing field even if it means I have to relocate,” she said.

First-year nursing student Steven DeGeest stumbled his way into nursing and said he looks at the opportunity from a job security standpoint.

DeGeest is from Newton. He came to IHCC and joined the nursing program after having worked at Maytag for 21 years. When the company was bought out by Whirlpool and subsequently closed its Newton plan, he decided to pursue a health care career.

“There’s job security in Iowa since there is a lack of nurses,” he said.

Judge said the need for nurses and other health care professionals will be great over the next five to 10 years.

“All kinds of hospitals, nursing homes and all arenas where nurses are found are going to face a shortage. That is the first line of delivery. If we don’t address this, we are going to face a shortfall all over the state,” she said.

One of the recommendations made by Judge and the task force is the development of a health workforce center to be the focal point for nurse workforce data and measures.

“I think if we can take a better look, then we can understand the need better. I think we need to make it easier for prospective nursing students by expanding the nursing program through forgivable loans and scholarships,” she said.

Task force member and State Board of Health representative Cheryll Jones, of Bloomfield, said nursing shortages are evident, especially in rural Iowa.

She said finding and retaining rural nurses is even more difficult because of low wages and burnout.

“When you have a nurse at a smaller hospital or a rural area, they have to be an expert in everything instead of one specific area,” Jones said.