LONG BEACH, Calif. — Hospitals across the country are taking this week to thank nurses for their contributions to health care.

At the same time, the industry has been facing a shortage that began before the pandemic and is only expected to worsen in the next couple of years. 

More than 275,000 additional nurses are needed until 2030, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The agency expects nurse employment opportunities to grow 9% faster than all other occupations through 2026.

Reports also show that a lack of staffing across the industry impacts quality care, resulting in increased wait times and higher rates of readmission. 

Incoming nursing students are seen as critical to addressing the shortage and keeping up with the increasing demand for patient health care. 

The shortage is not lost on Cal State Long Beach nursing student, Karlee Hopkins.

“The hospital population numbers are going to rise. With a shortage of nurses, we’re going to have higher patient ratios and less nurses. That means less support for those nurses, which means increased burnout. And we don’t want that, we want our nurses to be happy,” said Hopkins.

The data backs this up: Across the country, 100,000 registered nurses have left the workforce in the past two years, many citing burnout. 

According to a study by UC San Francisco, California is facing a roughly 6% nurse deficit that is expected to last until 2029. 

“The burnout, I believe, is high because of the patient ratios,” said Hopkins. 

Despite this, she is eager and preparing to join the ranks herself. She says knowing the data about burnout has helped her mentally prepare to enter the field and help fill in the gap. 

“I think we are a little bit better prepared. At least this program prepared us a lot to take care of our mental health and really go in and take a deep breath before you do anything and take a step back and look at the whole situation so that you can advocate for yourself,” said Hopkins.

Mental health is becoming increasingly important in the hiring process, according to hiring staff at hospitals like Marianna Volodarskiy, a registered nurse and Executive Director of Patient Care Services for Kaiser Permanente Southern California and Hawaii. 

She says recruitment is their biggest hurdle, and they have to be creative. 

“There’s definitely much more focus around having flexibility, not spending time on the freeway for two hours away from family, being able to have that work-life balance. And so, yes, it makes things much more difficult for health care, who are 24 seven environment in the hospital setting,” said Volodarskiy.

Volodarskiy says that is why they are continuing to figure out ways to support the nurse pipeline. 

“We have to stay on top of it and, whenever possible, get in front of it. We are going to be challenged. That’s the current state and how can we change that trajectory? What do we need to do? How do we help our schools and academia build more robust nursing schools?” said Volodarskiy. 

This is why she adds their new grad program, which has ramped up in recent years to meet demand, focuses on helping new nurses transition into their roles

“The new grad program is really focused on having support systems for those nurses for almost a year. It’s not that easy to transition,” said Volodarskiy. 

She says the program has also helped with retention. Along with an aging population, Volodarskiy also says early nurse retirements prompted by the pandemic are both factors for the nursing shortage and why they have also looked at ways to make shifts easier for those already in the field. 

“It can be as simple as helping the nurse not have to search for an IV pump or another piece of equipment and being stressed about that and waste their time running around, but instead letting them spend time and focus on their direct patient care,” said 

For Hopkins, patient care is what she is most excited about; knowing the work she will be doing is essential. 

“I think it’s super important that more people come into the field of nursing. It’s very impactful, the field itself and what you can do for other people in advancing someone’s health whenever they are sick and they need that care,” said Hopkins.

She shares that learning to advocate for herself has been just as important as learning to advocate for her patients and thinks it will make a difference in nursing levels in the future.