Rio Grande Valley hospitals are facing a shortage of nurses, and are offering hundreds of nursing jobs to add to their teams.
After more than a year into the COVID-19 Pandemic, nurses teams at local hospitals have been facing a deficit, and according to the state department of health, the demand for nurses in Texas will remain in the deficit up until 2030.
Local health professionals say the best way to address the issue is by expanding nursing education.
“We have to be able to improve our graduate programs, take more nurses into graduate programs, “Sharon Radzyminski, dean of the UTRGV School of Nursing said. “We need to open doctoral programs that allow nurses to advance their education so they can be the faculty for the future nurses that we need.”
The COVID-19 pandemic affected not only hospitals but education for aspiring nurses.
Last year South Texas College turned away more than 80 qualified nursing students because of a lack of faculty members and the program capacity for the spring 2021 semester.
South Texas Health System hospitals offer up to $5,000 in signing bonuses.
