ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. — There are many reasons to choose the path of nursing as a career. 

A desire to help, a need to give back, or for Grace Lundfelt, it was a pull from a higher power. 

“I felt like it was a path that God was directing me towards,” said Lundfelt of the nursing program at St. Leo University.

Then, there is Emily Gray. As a kid, she had cancer and spent many days in and out of hospitals, so she knows well the importance of good nursing care. 

“It can make a big difference on a person’s life,” said Gray.

The pair are not nurses yet, but they soon will be. They are part of Saint Leo University’s first nursing class. 

When we visited, they were doing clinical work and training with RNs at AdventHealth Zephyrhills. 

“This is our first dedicated education unit model that we have followed at AdventHealth Zephyrhills, and we are hoping to make a pipeline for our new nurses,” said Kim Friedmeyer, Nursing Education Manager at AdventHealth Zephyrhills.

Hospitals across the state are not getting enough people applying to become nurses. Because of this, there is a push to change the strategy on recruiting. 

This program between AdventHealth and Saint Leo’s is government funded. The Saint Leo’s program received $740,000 from the 2023-24 state budget.

The hope is that the investment into the Saint Leo program will add 200 nurses into the state. 

AdventHealth Zephyrhills hopes to fill its halls with several of those new nurses. 

“We really were trying to target, getting students within a 30-minute radius, so with those intentions that we would actually bring them on as new team members when they were finished,” said Friedmeyer. 

Both Gray and Lundfelt have thought about applying to AdventHealth Zephyrhills after graduation.

“Possibly yeah,” said Lundfelt. “I have had a really good experience here.”