CHARLOTTE — State leaders estimate North Carolina could be short nearly 19,000 nurses in less than 10 years, but UNC Charlotte is working to get ahead of the growing crisis.
The university is now offering the only public accelerated nursing program in the region.
Kelly Beckham is one of 32 students in the program. She started practicing with a mannequin last fall, but she’ll be working with real patients by the end of the year.
“I wanted to be in a program that was more fast-paced, accelerated,” she told Channel 9’s Erika Jackson. “I wanted to go out there. I wanted to start working and be a nurse.”
Clinical professor Susan Lynch says it’s designed for students who already hold a degree, like a bachelor’s in a different field or an associate’s.
“They’ve done a lot of the basic general education and the liberal studies courses that are required for a bachelor’s degree,” Lynch said. “They want a way that they can come in and be able to get through a little faster and be able to get into the workforce because typically nursing school is pretty rigorous.”
Students with previous degrees can jump right into the curriculum. Those enrolled in the program learn over the summer, attending classes and clinicals over four straight semesters.
“It’s important in that they’re going to get out into the workforce quicker, and so that means our hospital systems and our health care agencies that are hiring our graduates will be able to get them faster,” Lynch explained.
The N.C. Center on the Workforce for Health found 1 in 3 licensed practical nurse positions were vacant in 2025, and 1 in 8 registered nurse positions went unfilled.
Beckham hopes she, along with the help of UNC Charlotte’s nursing program, will lessen that gap.
“I’m hoping to get to that point so other nurses aren’t getting burnt out,” she said. “I could, kind of, share that load and alleviate that pressure from them.”
She hopes the program will give her the chance to live her dream as a travel nurse.
UNC Charlotte received a $2.4 million grant from the N.C. General Assembly to expand its nursing program. The school used that money to pay for this new program’s faculty and expand its lab space.
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