The Gulf Coast Health Services Steering Committee: a business-education partnership to solve the registered nurse shortage.

The need to increase the registered nurse work-force has historically been the concern only of nursing school administrators and educators and, occasionally, the focus of hospital administrators during spikes in demand. How can nursing educators develop and sustain a productive partnership with local hospitals and the business community? The authors describe their experience in creating and developing a long-term, employer-led, and sustainable partnership for increasing their own registered nurse workforce.