The state of Michigan reportedly plans to invest $5 million in efforts to ease the state's nursing shortage.

An Associated Press report this week notes that the state plans to distribute the money among nine nursing schools and two hospitals to help further the Michigan Nursing Corps program. According to the report, the new funding is expected to result in about 61 new nursing school faculty and 14 clinical instructors as soon as the middle of next year.

In turn, the increase in nursing school instructors is said to be able to produce 610 new nurse training spots and room for 156 clinical education students.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected that about 587,000 new jobs for nurses will be created by 2016. However, state and federal lawmakers have increasingly been looking at boosting nursing schools as a way to ease the nursing shortage.

After all, a large number of nursing faculty are said to be approaching retirement age and many schools lack the infrastructure needed to handle swelling demand for their programs.