Boca Regional Chief Nursing Officer Appointed As President Of The Nursing Consortium Of South Florida

BOCA RATON, FL – Melissa Durbin, RN, MSN, NEA-BC, Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at Boca Raton Regional Hospital has been appointed as President of the Nursing Consortium of South Florida.

As President of the Consortium, Durbin will lead the organization in uniting community leaders to
address the region’s shortage of qualified nursing staff. Her primary responsibilities include increasing
interest in nursing among middle and high school students, improving the public perception of nursing
and advocating for greater funding for nursing education.

“It’s an honor and my pleasure to be at the helm of an organization that shares my passion for the nursing profession,” said Melissa Durbin. “Florida faces a serious nursing shortage issue and the Consortium will develop and implement long-term strategies to ensure our community has access to qualified nurses.”

At Boca Regional, Ms. Durbin is responsible for all nursing and other patient care functions and services.
She manages the assessment, planning, coordination, implementation and evaluation of nursing practices on a facility level, and is accountable for ensuring high quality, safe and appropriate nursing care, competency of clinical staff and effective resource management.

The Consortium’s mission is to strengthen relationships between nurses in practice and academic settings, to identify and address opportunities for strengthening the nursing community, and to ensure adequate access to high quality ever improving nursing services.

According to the Florida Center of Nursing, demand for nursing personnel is projected to increase
dramatically as Florida’s large Baby Boom cohort reaches typical ages for retirement and begins to
require more care for age-related conditions. At the same time, more than 40% of Florida’s nurses are
approaching retirement age within the next 10 years and there are not enough younger nurses to replace
them.