CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – A nursing shortage has the Elms College School of Nursing hopeful that their senior class members will quickly land a job at one of the nearby hospitals.

Recruiters from Mercy Medical Center, Baystate Medical Center and Holyoke Medical Center all attended Tuesday’s health forum at the Elms College School of Nursing. The intensity of the current shortage was definitely on the minds of the assembled health professionals.

“There is an absolute shortage. It’s a national shortage, There’s probably an international shortage. Here in western Massachusetts, there’s huge shortage,” said Kathleen Pont of Elms College School of Nursing.

The nine nursing recruiters included representatives from as far away as Hartford Hospital and Dartmouth Health in New Hampshire.