ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Hospitals across New York state are struggling with a nursing shortage, so a Rochester university is taking an initiative this summer to get the next generation interested in the nursing field.
They’re not nurses yet, but students Alexa Durand and Sam Spence are getting the chance to put their skills to the test.
The two are Brighton High School students and are among dozens of students attending a week-long nursing camp at St. John Fisher College.
“I love helping others and it’s very fulfilling,” Durand said. “I enjoy bringing a smile to people’s faces.”
It was that feeling, and her interest in the medical field, that brought Durand here: She’s been working with patient simulations to get a feel for what nursing school will be like.
“It’s a valuable experience to see what really goes on in a hospital, something that a lot of people don’t know,” she said.
New York is projected to have a shortage of about 40,000 nurses by 2030. Enrollment in nursing programs will decline in 2023 for the first time since 2000, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
Program leaders at Wegmans School of Nursing say the camp is one way to get the next generation interested in a nursing career.
“You need exposure to different areas of nursing,” says graduate simulation coordinator Karen Parker, “and there are places in nursing where you can work in different areas.”
In the simulation lab, Durand and her team were able to successfully diagnose patients, but the best part of the experience was working side by side with potential future colleagues.
“Maybe we’ll meet in the future while working together at the hospital,” Durand said. “You never really know what’s going to happen.”