Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/1152989
t m c » p u l s e | a u g u s t 2 0 1 9 30 W hen Tonya Robinson was 9 years old, she fell off the jungle gym at her Albuquerque, New Mexico elementary school and suffered a concussion. "My mom took me to the ER," Robinson recalled. "While I was there, a little girl, about 2, was in a curtained area next to me. I could hear her screaming and crying." Robinson drifted in and out of sleep at the hospital, but at one point she woke up and asked about the little girl. The nurse explained that the child's grandmother had been frying sopapillas in a pot of boiling oil on the stove and the girl had grabbed the pot and burned herself quite badly. Robinson's worry showed on her face. "But the nurse told me the little girl was going to be okay," Robinson said. "It was the way she spoke to me and held my hand. From that moment on, I wasn't scared any- more. That was the day I realized I wanted to do that for somebody else—be their comfort when they are scared." Today, Robinson, 45, is a research nurse in urology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her childhood experience speaks to an essential truth: that nurses are the human face—the caring touch—of health care. Most hospital patients, whether they realize it or not, judge the qual- ity of their care on the expertise of the nursing staff. "The nurse is the only profes- sional with patients 24 hours a day in the hospital," said Chuck Stokes, president and CEO of Memorial Hermann Health System and a registered nurse. "The doctor comes and goes. The physical therapist comes and goes. But the nurse is always there." Nursing is the nation's largest health care profession, with 4 mil- lion registered nurses (RNs) prac- ticing across the country, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Unfortunately, that is not nearly enough nurses to go around. As nursing career options have expanded and the need for RNs has increased alongside aging baby boomers, the United States finds itself on the cusp of a serious nurs- ing shortage. In Texas, the supply of RNs, nurse practitioners, certified reg- istered nurse anesthetists and cer- tified nurse-midwives is projected to fall short of demand by 2030, according to the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies. Some 60,000 RN jobs will need to be filled. But nursing pays. The median income for RNs was $71,730 in 2018, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. With the chance to earn a decent wage, along with opportuni- ties for overtime and flexible hours, why is the United States staring down a nursing shortage? And how can institutions in the Texas Medical Center and beyond fill these posts and retain this vital seg- ment of the health care workforce? Age and education "The aging of the current nursing workforce is one reason for the nurs- ing shortage," said Cathy Rozmus, Ph.D., vice dean for academic affairs at Cizik School of Nursing at The University of Texas Health Science Center Houston (UTHealth). "In the state of Texas, 25 percent of all nurses are age 56 or older. IN NEED OF NURSES What's behind the nursing shortage? How can we fix it? B y M a g g i e G a l e h o u s e Tonya Robinson, right, is a research nurse in urology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Cathy Rozmus, Ph.D., left, is vice dean for academic affairs at Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth.