Statewide nursing shortage puts pressure on nurses and nursing programs

Despite nursing’s appeal as a profession, hospitals are facing challenges trying to keep their ranks filled, impacting patients and educational pathways in the state.

By Daimler Koch, Editor-in-Chief

California is facing a severe nursing shortage, impacting the educational pathways of nursing students and adding a burden onto the responsibilities of working nurses. 

Nursing is a lucrative profession in the state. California reported a mean salary of $148,000 for registered nurses (RNs) in 2024, often attainable with merely an Associate’s Degree. Nevertheless, hospitals are lacking in nurse staffing, with 58.4 percent of the state’s counties facing some sort of shortage. The San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Valley are the most affected regions, according to Dr. Preethamol Puthiakunnel, the director of Valley’s nursing program.

“It was severe right after COVID,” Dr. Puthiakunnel said. “So many people retired because of the aging workforce and the situation of the pandemic.”

There are many reasons behind the shortage. Nurses often face severe burnout due to the nature of the job, with many newer RNs quitting before completing two years in the profession. At the same time, older nurses are retiring, and hospitals are cutting back on training new nurses. All of this has created a deficit of 40,970 missing nurses in the state. 

Katie Laughlin, a bedside oncology nurse, has noticed a decrease in the number of nurses her hospital hires for her floor.

“You know, we’re seeing older nurses retire, and they’ll bring in new, younger nurses, and they won’t stay at the bedside for very long,” Laughlin said. “So there’s a lot of turnover, especially among younger nurses, that I’ve seen.” 

Dr. Puthiakunnel said that financial incentives, such as sign-on bonuses and employee referral programs, can help lure nurses from overflowing areas to the more critical regions.

Another proposed solution is to make the educational barrier smaller and more affordable in order to increase supply. Assembly Bill 1400, introduced at the beginning of September, planned to create a program at community colleges that would have allowed them to offer a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing (BSN). However, Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the bill in mid-October. 

“I would really, really love to have a BSN program in community college,” Dr. Puthiakunnel said. “We would work so hard to get that going.”

Lorena Ruvalcaba, a nursing major in her third semester at Valley, said that she would have enrolled in the program had it been offered due to its affordability.

“Community college makes it financially accessible for people like myself,” Ruvalcaba said, speaking about the vetoed program. “I used to work full time when I was doing my pre-reqs and stuff, but in the nursing program, it’s almost impossible to work full time. So, if that was incorporated into Valley, I would do it.”

Valley offers nursing students several options to start their BSN, including programs from University of Phoenix, Grand Canyon University and California State University, Northridge. Ruvalcaba is planning to attend the latter for her bachelor’s.

In the time being, the nursing shortage will impact patient care, as nurse-to-patient ratios are stretched and RNs are forced to take on a higher workload.

“We don’t have the staff that we should have,” Laughlin said. “The patients definitely notice, because we can’t spend the time with them that they deserve, or they need.”

Still, in spite of the shortage, Ruvalcaba is optimistic about becoming a nurse in the near future.

“For those who are interested in becoming a nurse, do not let the burnout shy you away from it,” Ruvalcaba said. “You have to remember your why, why you’re looking into becoming a nurse and why you’re in the program, constantly remind yourself, why.”