Hospitals are lacking registered nurses across the United States after coronavirus cases skyrocketed, except in Georgia and Texas, with Kennesaw State’s WellStar Nursing program ranked as a top graduating program.
KSU has 830 active undergraduate BSN students and 67 in the master’s program with 221 undergraduates graduating the past school year.
Ryah Lynch is a first-year nursing student at KSU and attributes her desire to become a nurse to her mom, who is also a nurse.
“I’m excited about getting the opportunity to finally take care of patients on my own and put the skills that I learn in nursing school to good use,” Lynch said. “I applaud all of the healthcare professionals out there who stayed post-pandemic and continue to work hard and provide patients with the best quality care that they can have with such a limited staff.”
The shortage began in 2021, with 53,295 nurse practitioners leaving their careers following an increase in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. Yet out of all the states that have been losing nurses, Georgia has increased its number. From 2020 to 2022 Georgia gained 9,790 registered nurses with only Texas outnumbering them.
Professor Rachel Myers, Assistant Director of the Undergraduate Nursing Program, revealed that the KSU program will be transforming the curriculum and incorporating more technology and hands-on learning to meet the needs of the hospitals.
KSU’s nursing program is ranked 11th in Georgia, with Emory and Mercer being the top choices. Three months into 2024, 7,154 nurses received degrees in Georgia.
“I think these numbers are high because of the quality of students we have out there,” Myers said. “But it’s not just about enrollment.”
There have been many reasons stated as to why nurses are leaving their jobs, but the top three are burnout, violent patients and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA expands healthcare coverage to those who match the criteria of citizens who live in the United States and are not incarcerated. In 2022, the ACA had an all-time high of 35 million people covered under their insurance plan.
“With stress and burnout turnover, nursing is the highest,” Myers said. “As the shortage gets worse, the burnout and the stress gets worse, and now people are leaving more.”
Another student, senior Maddie Hanna, equates burnout with hospitals being short-staffed.
“I don’t know the exact statistic but so many go part-time or leave the field entirely very early on in their careers,” Hanna said. “Some places have unsafe patient ratios and that’s when mistakes can be made.”
There are ways to stop burnout in nurses such as meditation, separation of work and personal life, therapy and a sleep schedule. If you’re experiencing stress or burnout, visit KSU psychological services for help.
