The first day of the spring semester for Riverland Community College students Monday was also a day of opportunity for students interested in pursuing careers in the health care field.

Organized by Riverland nursing program director Danyel Helgeson, Riverland hosted a health care job fair Monday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. that featured representatives from colleges, business and medical facilities.

“We always have people contacting us about wanting to speak with students about job opportunities in the health care field,” Helgeson said. “We don’t have a lot of time for the folks to come in, so this gives students the opportunity to visit on their own time.”

The event included officials from Regency Home Health Care — based out of Austin — Crown College, Augsburg College and Austin Medical Center.

Kelly Kiker, of AMC, said the buzz in her industry is that there’s a nursing shortage and added that the job fair was worthwhile for both the organizations and the students.

“I think it’s a real nice opportunity to let them know what we offer at AMC,” Kiker said.