Texas nursing shortage leaves thousands of positions unfilled
TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) – Almost one out of every 10 hospitals in Texas is in danger of closing – that alarming statistic comes from the Texas Hospital Association, citing soaring expenses and historic workforce shortages.
It is a crisis, they admit, that was brewing before the pandemic, then COVID pushed hospitals to the brink.
"It was unexplainable how difficult it was to work in an industry, where we did not have the option to stay at home," shares Katie Mapula, Director of Nursing at Parkland Health. "That fear of the unknown... and walking in when you're not sure if you're going to have enough masks, you're not going to have enough gowns. You don't know if you're putting your family or yourself at risk."
The toll was heavy and long – pushing many exhausted and emotionally drained healthcare workers out of the door – and even as the pandemic eases, they are not returning.
According to the Texas Hospital Association's COVID-19 Impact report, "this year, roughly 500,000 nurses are expected to leave the workforce, bringing the overall shortage to 1.1 million nurses."
Serena Bumpas is CEO of the Texas Nurses Association.
"Really, it's more than just burnout," says Bumpas. "It's moral injury and compassion fatigue that nurses are experiencing as well."
According to Bumpas, Texas is right now short about 30,000 nurses and the number expected to double by 2032.
All this as thousands of qualified applicants are turned away from nursing schools because of a lack of capacity. So, the nurses association is lobbying the legislature to increase funding so that nursing schools that hire more faculty and admit more students because the demand is already here.
"When you seek healthcare – whether that's in a hospital or a clinic, or a standalone emergency room – they all depend on nurses to make their facilities run," says Bumpas, "to provide good quality outcomes. And if we don't have nurses to take care of patients, our healthcare system will crumble, and we can't afford to do that."
