Maryland Nursing Workforce Center

Data and Reporting

Data and reporting is the primary mission of the Maryland Nursing Workforce Center (MNWC), which serves as a repository for nursing related data and reports. We create, collect, analyze, and disseminate data for the Maryland nursing community and others. To achieve this goal, the MNWC has established partnerships with private, local, state, and national organizations and the government to meet the data needs of the nursing community and the state. Our goal is to transform data into accessible, actionable intelligence through:

• data dashboards that visualize demographic trends, current workforce distribution, and specialization patterns.
• tracking emerging changes in employment, education, and practice environments
• specialized briefs that highlight critical issues affecting specific nursing specialties or geographic regions
• longitudinal data that reveal long-term patterns in the nursing workforce.

The data and reporting focus serves to provide stakeholders with reliable evidence to inform resource allocation, educational planning, and policy development. Our analyses illuminate both immediate challenges and future opportunities, creating a foundation for strategic decision-making that strengthens Maryland’s health care system.

Advocacy

The MNWC recognizes the importance of supporting partners who are leading efforts to advance the nursing profession and address issues that affect nurses. The MNWC contributes by offering collaboration, research, data collection and analysis, and the dissemination of workforce findings. We have been invited to serve as panel experts, offer input on nursing workforce topics, and provide background information to inform testimony. By supplying accurate, evidence-based data and information, the MNWC helps equip advocates and decision-makers across settings and specialties with the information needed to support Maryland’s nursing workforce.

Recruiting and Pathways

Our Recruiting and Pathways focus assesses the needs of nursing schools and health care organizations to identify opportunities for interventions to address the need for nurses across the state. In the academic setting, we have identified several external and internal barriers to recruiting, ranging from student preparation to faculty burnout. In the clinical setting, creating early engagement opportunities such as internship and externship programs and clinical models such as the Dedicated Education Unit and ACES have been effective recruiting strategies. We have worked with several schools across the state exploring recruiting and pathway options. 

Retention

Nurse and faculty retention is an effective strategy for preserving the nursing workforce. The MNWC works with partners across the state to better understand how to retain staff nurses, conduct research, collect data, and engage in retention projects. We will continue efforts to improve retention by working with partners across the state to disseminate best practices and support the implementation and evaluation of initiatives.  

Nursing Education and Professional Development

Nursing Education and Professional Development is an important focus area and one in which the MNWC has been involved since 2021, when we hosted the NextGen NCLEX Summit. Nurse educators from across the state took part in the summit to learn more about the then-new NextGen NCLEX. Since that time, we have developed the Universal Onboarding Project in collaboration with the Maryland Organization for Nurse Leaders Inc./Maryland Nurse Residency Collaborative (MONL/MNRC), a product used by nearly every school and hospital in Maryland to streamline the clinical onboarding process for nursing students. We also hosted the Trauma Responsive Leadership series to teach nurse faculty, clinicians, and nurse leaders to use trauma-informed care strategies with students and staff. These strategies have been shown to help with morale, improve retention, and decrease anxiety in students. The MNWC will continue to identify educational and professional development offerings to support nurses across settings and specialty across Maryland.