Area hospitals looking to hire more registered nurses to meet new state standards are having trouble finding enough job candidates.

"We have (fewer) resources to start with then add on the number of nurses who are retiring," said Laurie Eberst, chief nurse executive at St. Bernardine Medical Center in San Bernardino.

"Then there's growth of California. All of the nursing programs, whether public or private, only produce half the nurses needed in this state."

According to 2000 federal statistics, California ranked 49th of 50 states for its nurse-to-patient average of 544 per 100,000 people.

Nevada ranked last with 520 nurses per 100,000 people.

The national average is about 700 per 100,000.

To help fill gaps in staffing, hospitals have taken their recruitment directly to the nursing schools.

Two years ago St. Bernardine Medical Center and Community Hospital of San Bernardino each began giving Cal State San Bernardino $6,000 per semester to fund an additional instructor.

The move has allowed the school to accept more students into the program each year.

Currently the school accepts about 90 students a year, and about that many are turned away, said Marcia Raines, chairwoman of the Department of Nursing.

Eberst said St. Bernardine has had a good relationship with Cal State San Bernardino's nursing program and has offered students opportunities to get clinical experience.

"But we felt there needed to be something to increase the number of graduates coming to St. Bernardine and Community Hospital," she said. "So we asked them, 'Why can't you graduate more nurses per year?' It came down to funding."

The first class accepted since the hospitals began helping out is scheduled to graduate this year, Eberst said, and many members have committed to jobs at the two hospitals.

Jane Dreher, a spokeswoman for Redlands Community Hospital, said though the hospital isn't providing any funding to schools, it is looking into ways of increasing the number of new nurses.

Dreher said the hospital has formed close ties with nursing programs at Cal State San Bernardino, San Bernardino Valley College, Loma Linda University and the University of Phoenix by offering scholarships and specialized training.

Jennifer Resch-Silvestri, a spokeswoman for Kaiser Permanente of Fontana, said the medical center recently gave Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga $50,000 to add a faculty position in its nursing program.

Kaiser Permanente also offers scholarships.

"The hope is that this will add 10 to 12 more seats in the classroom as well as put more nurses on the market," Resch-Silvestri said. "It's not about space, it's about getting more professionals to teach so that more students can be taught."