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Connecticut needs 3,000 new nurses a year and only 2,000 graduate — and many of them are leaving.

This year’s nursing school graduates matriculated before the pandemic took hold, and over the course of their studies, they’ve seen the profession go through an upheaval. Waves of COVID-19 delayed students’ clinical rotations at patient care facilities. When they were allowed back into hospitals, clinics and long-term care facilities, the work was more intense than many had expected.

Connecticut needs 3,000 new nurses a year and only 2,000 of them graduate — and many of them are leaving.

WSHU’s Ebong Udoma spoke with CT Mirror’s Erica Phillips to discuss her article, “Demand for nurses is urgent. CT’s colleges and universities can’t keep up,” as part of the collaborative podcast Long Story Short.

“I was shocked,” said Jillian Levesque, one of the University of Connecticut School of Nursing’s five valedictorians from the class of 2022.