On Monday, while reporting on a decision by George Washington University to establish a separate School of Nursing, I wrote that it was interesting news because nurses continue to be in high demand, even in the current recession. But reader Brian Schuh, currently a nursing student at Georgetown, emailed to take to me task, citing a Baltimore Business Journal story from last year that refutes that assertion.

“The fact is that there has been a major slowdown in hospital hiring of new grads. Many recent grads have been looking for jobs for months, even some Johns Hopkins students can’t find work,” Schuh wrote.

Indeed, a search through recent employment figures turns up other evidence that the once white-hot nursing job market has cooled significantly in the past two years. The Washington Post has reported much the same thing, explaining that many veteran nurses have decided to postpone retirement or resume their careers for financial reasons during the recession, leading there to be far fewer opportunities for new graduates than there once were, despite a highly publicized nationwide nursing shortage in recent years.

Apologies all around for getting this wrong. And best of luck to all those nursing students poised to graduate this year.