Nursing school administrators in San Bernardino County say they are alarmed at the number of students steered away from careers in nursing because schools are short of funding to educate them.

Hospitals in California have suffered from a shortage of registered nurses in recent years, and with more stringent state staffing rules in effect, administrators say, the pain is not likely to end soon.

"We are impacted - every nursing program I'm aware of in California has tried to increase their enrollments, but it's still not enough to meet the state's needs," said Marcia Raines, chairwoman of the department of nursing at Cal State San Bernardino.

"We are turning out more graduates and we still can't meet the need of the state," she said. "It's very sad."

According to a 1999 report by the California Strategic Planning Commission for Nursing, California will need about 30,000 more registered nurses by 2006.

The shortage has been blamed on years of low nursing-school enrollments, hospital budget cuts, understaffing and a high number of retirements.

In the past, hospitals were depended on community colleges and trade schools to meet their needs. In recent years, state and private schools have seen increases in enrollment.

Cal State San Bernardino, which offers both bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing, is receiving more applications from qualified students than it can accept.

The university, which accepts about 90 students a year, is turning away as many as 40 qualified applicants per semester, Raines said.

Marilyn Johnson, dean of health sciences at San Bernardino Valley College, and Pat Green, director of the nursing program at Victor Valley College in Victorville, shared similar stories.

Both community colleges offer associate of arts degrees in nursing.

For every 40 students accepted into Victor Valley College's nursing program, at least 20 are turned away, Green said.

"We have have excellent students applying. In fact, they are outstanding," she said. "I just wish that we had room for everybody."

Loma Linda University, which offers associate's and bachelor's degrees in nursing, has also seen an increase in enrollments and applications in recent years.

The school has used federal funding for recruitment, especially to recruit minority students.

"What we've found is that if students meet the first step, we can usually accommodate them. If they don't get in the first time they can get in within a year," Green said. "Students who do not have the prerequisite units are getting turned away and have to take the units elsewhere."