Future nursing shortage predicted and Texas Tech prepares - KCBD NewsChannel 11 Lubbock

7/14/10

Future nursing shortage predicted and Texas Tech prepares

Posted:

By Karin McCay| email

Edited by Kristin Beerman | email 

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) – It's been a concern for some time that in the coming years many hospitals may find themselves with more patients and fewer nurses. 

The State Health Department estimates we'll lose 70,000 nurses by the year 2020. "The shortages are because of the baby boomers, as we retire there is this huge tsunami that's about to hit healthcare so as we age we need more healthcare, that's really the bottom line," said Alyce Ashcraft, R.N., Ph.D., a nursing professor at Texas Tech Health Sciences Center.  

Which is why Texas Tech is beefing up its curriculum, to allow nursing students to join the workforce in four semesters, rather than six.

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