Georgia Nursing Workforce Center

The Georgia Nursing Workforce Center (GNWC) is dedicated to addressing nursing workforce challenges and opportunities in Georgia. In collaboration with the Georgia Nursing Leadership Coalition, the GNWC is housed at the Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing.

The center researches and addresses issues of supply and demand for nursing in Georgia, including retention, recruitment, educational capacity, and the distribution of nursing workforce resources. It includes health care organizations, business partners, state leaders, universities, colleges, and community-based organizations and is a member of the National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers.

Our Why

The need for more trained and qualified nurses is a problem faced by health care systems across the United States. 

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects an average of 203,200 openings for registered nurses (RNs) annually between 2021 and 2031. The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) 2023 Environmental Scan reports that Georgia has among the lowest ratios of employed RNs per population, with fewer than 750 employed registered nurses per 100,000 people.

The need for more nurses exists partly because of an anticipated increase in nurse retirements. In 2020, the median age of RNs was 52, with more than one in five indicating an intent to retire by 2025, according to the 2020 National Council of State Boards of Nursing and National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers survey of the U.S. nursing workforce.

According to a 2022 National Nursing Workforce Study, 100,000 registered nurses left the workforce due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and 41 percent of the RN total is now comprised of nurses with a mean age of 36 and fewer than 10 years of work experience. Approximately 31 percent of nurses under age 35 say they intend to leave their position, and 32 percent are considering resigning, according to a 2022 American Nurses Foundation survey.  

Contact Us

The Georgia Nursing Workforce Center carefully examines the current demand for nurses, the number of nurses our educational system is producing, the rate of nurses retiring, and the needs of the overall nursing workforce to better understand the state of nursing in Georgia. 

For additional information about the Georgia Nursing Workforce Center or for information on how you can get involved, please email ganursing@emory.edu.

“A healthy and well nursing workforce is key to a healthy and well Georgia. The opportunity for learning and community with this center will help to strengthen and promote a diverse, inclusive, and equity-minded nursing workforce, prepared and supported to meet Georgia's health and care needs.”
- Chelsea Hagopian, GNWC Executive Director

Key Areas of Work

  • Data and Research
  • Education
  • Collaboration
  • Policy Action

Center Executive Director

Chelsea Hagopian - GNWC
Chelsea
Hagopian
DNP, APRN, AGACNP-BC

Chelsea O. P. Hagopian, DNP, APRN, AGACNP-BC, is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and an ANCC board-certified adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner.

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Our Mission and Vision

Mission

The mission of the Georgia Nursing Workforce Center is to research and address issues of supply and demand for nursing, including concerns related to retention, recruitment, educational capacity and preparedness, and the distribution of the nursing workforce resources to meet the health and health care needs of the Georgia population.

Vision
  • To promote a diverse, inclusive, and equity-minded nursing workforce.
  • To champion the value of nursing.
  • To advance the health and well-being of nurses and student nurses.
  • To drive positive change in the nursing workforce through data and research, education, collaboration, and policy action.

History & Timeline

Our People

GNWC Advisory Board Members
  • Blake McGee: Chair, GNWC Advisory Board; Assistant Professor, Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing & Health Professions, Georgia State University
  • Natara Taylor: Executive Director, Georgia Board of Nursing
  • Ashlan Porter: President, Georgia Board of Nursing
  • Tammy Bryant: Director of Curriculum for Allied Health, Technical College System of Georgia
  • Carolyn Clevenger: Member (Nursing), Georgia Board of Healthcare Workforce; Professor, Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
  • Lisa Wright Eichelberger: Immediate Past Chair, GNLC Data Advisory Board; Dean Emerita, Clayton State University
  • Jeannie Cimiotti: Associate Professor, Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing 
  • Leanna Greenwood: Analyst /Data Team Supervisor, Georgia Board of Healthcare Workforce
  • Yin Li: Assistant Professor, Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
  • Michelle Nelson: Associate Professor, Clayton State University School of Nursing
  • Julie Zadinsky: Professor, Augusta University School of Nursing

About the Georgia Nursing Leadership Coalition

The Georgia Nursing Leadership Coalition was created in 2011 to kick off the Campaign for Action in Georgia, an unprecedented initiative to transform the nursing workforce to meet the health care challenges that confront Georgia. This summit was part of the national Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action initiative launched in November 2010 by RWJF to guide the implementation of the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) Future of Nursing report.

GNLC Executive Committee Members
  • Rebecca Wheeler: GNLC Coordinator; Risk Manager, Northside Hospital
  • Laura Colbert: Executive Director, Georgians for a Healthy Future
  • Lisa Wright Eichelberger: Dean Emerita, Clayton State University
  • Valencia Fleming: United Healthcare
  • Chelsea Hagopian: Executive Director, Georgia Nursing Workforce Center
  • Linda A. McCauley: Dean, Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
  • Desiree Clement: Emory University GNLC Liason; Associate Professor, Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing

Nursing Workforce

Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce (GBHCW)

The State of Georgia Nursing Workforce dashboard allows user to monitor the supply and distribution of Georgia’s actively licensed nurse workforce that includes registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and advanced practice registered nurses by role. The dashboard includes nurse and population statistics at the state and county level.

Voices of Georgia Nurses

Coming soon!

GNWC Reports

Frequently Asked Questions