Nursing shortage continues to get worse nationwide and in Michigan
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) — The nursing shortage is nothing new and is continuing to get worse around the country and in Michigan.
A recent study by the University of Michigan shows almost half of the workforce is ready to quit their job.
Michigan's newest nursing program at the Arizona College of Nursing is doing everything it can to fix this trend and hopefully, it can get hundreds if not thousands of nurses ready for the workforce.
The fact is nurses are being worked to the bone with crazy overtime hours and tending to too many patients at once.
CBS News Detroit spoke with two male nursing students at the Arizona College of Nursing in Southfield. Currently, men only represent 14% of the nursing field.
The school is aiming to bring more men into the industry and prioritize workplace culture and nurse retention levels.
"I love being a bedside person making someone smile and somebody has to care," said Arizona of College first-year nursing student Amari Elliott.
Elliott is trying to break into the industry and be a part of a successful statistic.
"What you put into this world you are going to get out," said Elliott.
The nursing shortage is causing four out of 10 nurses in the industry to think about leaving their job, according to a recent poll by the University of Michigan.
That data is just one reason why hundreds of nurses went to the state capitol to lobby with legislators.
They introduced the Safe Patient Care Act to help combat the nursing shortage.
First-year Arizona of College Nursing student Zac Weikel said something has got to give.
"Just as a society we expect a lot out of healthcare workers," said Weikel. "We expect doctors and nurses to be the very top of society and with that expectation comes a lot of pressure to not have normal human emotions and it is very important for every person to get extra time off and to have the understanding that we are not all perfect."
Elliott agrees with his classmate and that point resonates with most in the classroom.
The Arizona College of Nursing opened in Southfield to try to help combat the retirement of thousands of nurses and hopefully inspire thousands more to take on the career.
"This is the field that cannot be replaced with robots so the pay has to increase," said Elliott. "We meet you at your lowest point possible, total strangers taking care of you. We are going to get old and you are going to need somebody to take care of you so if you care right now it is going to come towards you as you get older.
A part of the Safe Patient Care Act includes limiting the number of patients assigned to a nurse and limiting mandatory overtime.
