TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) – Almost one out of every 10 hospitals in Texas is in danger of closing – that alarming statistic comes from the Texas Hospital Association, citing soaring expenses and historic workforce shortages.
It is a crisis, they admit, that was brewing before the pandemic, then COVID pushed hospitals to the brink.
“It was unexplainable how difficult it was to work in an industry, where we did not have the option to stay at home,” shares Katie Mapula, Director of Nursing at Parkland Health. “That fear of the unknown… and walking in when you’re not sure if you’re going to have enough masks, you’re not going to have enough gowns. You don’t know if you’re putting your family or yourself at risk.”
Serena Bumpas is CEO of the Texas Nurses Association.
“Really, it’s more than just burnout,” says Bumpas. “It’s moral injury and compassion fatigue that nurses are experiencing as well.”
According to Bumpas, Texas is right now short about 30,000 nurses and the number expected to double by 2032.
All this as thousands of qualified applicants are turned away from nursing schools because of a lack of capacity. So, the nurses association is lobbying the legislature to increase funding so that nursing schools that hire more faculty and admit more students because the demand is already here.