Navigating nursing needs From the cover
What’s being done
The big picture
the clinical placement. We have to have enough nurses to train the new nurses,” said Melanie Graves, director of nursing support services at St. Luke’s Health-The Woodlands. According to information from the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies, in 2024 the number of nursing students oered admission was lower than the number of available seats, with the primary reasons being lack of space and lack of qualied instructors.
SNAPPI pairs the SHSU School of Nursing with four major health care organizations in North Houston—St. Luke’s, Memorial Herman, Houston Methodist and HCA Houston Healthcare—to provide instruction from working nurses. Students in the program were randomly selected to participate along with experienced nurses, Berry said. “Our struggle really now is … trying to get more nurses educated. And part of that challenge is
As Texas sees a shortage of nearly 46,000 registered nurses this year, SHSU is piloting the program to allow nursing students to get hands-on experience led by nurses who have worked in the eld for years, Berry said. Initially funded by $999,500 from Texas Higher Education Coordination Board’s Nursing Innovation Program Grants, SNAPPI launched in 2024 with a feasibility study over two semesters at four sites that showed SHSU was able to reduce its reliance on part-time faculty by 10%, Berry said. A 2023 report from the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies stated data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows Texas has 826 registered nurses per 100,000 people compared to 948 RNs per 100,000 nationally. According to the report, the supply of registered nurses in Texas is lower due to “issues such as an aging workforce, nurse burnout and violence in the health care setting.” Another 2023 report from the Texas Center for Nursing Workforce Studies states Texas is projected to face a shortage of both licensed vocational nurses and registered nurses by 2036 based on projections from data collected in 2022.
Professional nursing program admissions in Texas Seats for new students Quali ed applications
Percentage of quali ed students not accepted
Oered admission
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
35.7% 2022
34.3% 2023
27.2% 2024
41.4% 2021
SOURCE: TEXAS CENTER FOR NURSING WORKFORCE STUDIESCOMMUNITY IMPACT
Diving in deeper
Licensed vocational nurses Demand Supply
Pay within nursing eld and nursing instructors in state colleges, 2024 Licensed vocational nurses $62,720
According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, some factors contributing to the nursing shortage include: • Increase in age for faculty • Increase in early retirements • Leaving for better pay in private or clinical settings “Our hope is, by using the SNAPPI model in which we’re eectively sharing a nurse between a clinical and academic setting, that we’re able to continue to reduce this massive gap that we have in nursing faculty,” Berry said. SNAPPI allows nurses to continue to receive clinical pay while providing support as faculty. “Post-pandemic, the dierence between what we pay a nurse in academia and what we pay a nurse in a clinical setting can exceed 30%, and you’re getting paid better in the clinical setting than you are in the academic setting,” Berry said. “So there’s a huge economic disincentive to get engaged with education, because you’re just going
80,000
60,000
Nurse midwives $117,250 Registered nurse $96,730 Nurse instructor $80,780
40,000
20,000
0
2022
2036*
Demand Supply Registered nurses
SOURCE: U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICSCOMMUNITY IMPACT
400,000
300,000
to make less money.” Kerrie Guerrero, chief nursing ocer for Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital, said the program has also helped with nurse retention. “We’ve seen ... increased interest from other nurses, retention gains and ... a meaningful contribution to SHSU’s faculty needs,” she said.
200,000
100,000
0
2022
2036*
*PROJECTION
40
COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
Powered by FlippingBook