Any comments on this? KTNV ABC,Channel 13,Las Vegas,Nevada,News,Weather,Sports,Entertainment,KTN V.com,Action News .:. Nevada ranks bottom in nursing shortage


There is a new view of the dire nursing shortage in Nevada.

A recent survey ranks us 49th in the country for the number of nurses per patients.

For 4-year old Sophia, sick with a kidney infection and facing possible surgery, the hospital is a scary place.

But her mother, Sherri Gallegos, says the nurses are a huge help.

"They talk to her, give her prizes, and just make her happy," Gallegos says.
Offering that emotional support as well as medical.

But across the state nurses are dwindling.

"Its scary to me I'm because I'm beginning to wonder who's going to take care of me when I need a nurse," Laura Green says.

Laura Green is a registered RN and the nurse recruiter for UMC.

She says one of the main reasons for the shortage is nurses are getting older.

The average age for a nurse in Nevada is 49.

"A lot of your nurses are baby boomers and they're getting ready to retire. Not only are they going to retire but they're going to become the consumers of healthcare," Green says.

Right now UMC has eleven full-time nursing positions open.

They say that's pretty good when compared to more rural hospitals.

UMC has the benefit of attracting a younger group with their trauma center and training programs other hospitals don't have.

But even so more than half of the nursing students who graduate in Nevada end up going to another state to work.

Leaving those who stay to fill in the gap.

"They are working a lot. Extra hard and putting a lot of hours in," Gallegos says.

And their patients are glad they do it.