For several years leading up to 2008, workforce data painted a picture of an imminent crisis in the healthcare workforce, with demand for registered nurses far exceeding supply. The economic recession has provided a temporary reprieve, as older nurses postponed retirement and hospitals instituted hiring freezes. However, economists believe that as states emerge from this recession, the nursing shortage will again be present, and promises to become very large. The question for states needing to address this challenge will be the same as before the recession: How can they produce sufficient numbers of highly-competent nurses? This policy brief provides some data on the projected nursing shortage, discusses the larger issues facing nursing education today, and describes pockets of innovation in nursing education that provide models for the kind of innovation policy-makers should embrace in order to meet the growing demand for a highly-educated nursing workforce. (Contains 30 endnotes.)