​The Nova Scotia nursing community is applauding the provincial government's announcement that it will invest an additional $4.7 million a year to improve nursing education.

The changes include creating a fast track so some nurses can graduate in two years, rather than four. In addition, there will be a fund created as an incentive for nurses to go to "hard-to-place" communities.

A plan will also be set up to allow senior nurses to mentor new nurses, and the senior nurses will be paid for this.

The government said the money will come from the existing budget for the Department of Health and Wellness and will be reallocated.

Lindsay Fraser, a fourth-year nursing student who is about to graduate from Dalhousie University, thinks having a dedicated mentor for new nurses is a good idea.

"I believe that the mentorship program will be extremely and highly beneficial as a new graduate to have an experienced nurse on the floor with us to have someone that we know we can go to," she said.

Andrea Boyd-White, the director of nursing at St. Martha's Regional Hospital in Antigonish, said nurses are committed to mentoring the next generation of nurses.

"This will give them an opportunity to pass along their skills to mentor others," she said.

Health Minister Leo Glavine says the changes will allow more nurses to enter the workplace sooner.

Dalhousie University, St. Francis Xavier University and Cape Breton University — the three Nova Scotia universities that grant nursing degrees — will offer programs that stagger graduations in the winter, spring and fall to allow the health system to hire throughout the year.

More than 40 per cent of Nova Scotia nurses are set to retire in the next five to 10 years.

The changes at the universities are expected to take effect in September 2016.