NEW YORK, NY May 26, 2009 —Nursing shortages persist across New York, but the state as a whole is a little better than the national average. Cindy Levernois helped write a new report for the Healthcare Association of New York State and found that vacant positions declined slightly over the last year.

LEVERNOIS: Nurses that may have been ready to retire, now are delaying their retirement as are others in many different fields. So, we see a little bit of a dip. What we’re fearful of is that people will think the shortage is actually easing and that there isn’t a shortage.

REPORTER: New York City, however, has gotten a little worse, with a nine percent vacancy rate, versus seven percent state-wide and eight percent nationally. Levernois says the nursing work force is growing about 20 times more slowly than necessary to keep up with a growing population and retiring Baby Boomers.