As of January 2026, the United States is facing the largest nursing shortage in history, leaving 358,190 nursing positions currently unoccupied nationwide. Projections indicate a worsening trend, with the rate anticipated to increase from 8.06% in 2026 to 11% by 2038.
The overall decline in healthcare professionals can be traced back to 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic intensified existing concerns regarding stress and burnout in the healthcare workforce.
A 2023 study conducted by the National Library of Medicine concluded that during the pandemic, 50% of nurses felt emotionally drained, 45.1% felt burned out and 29.4% felt ‘at the end of their rope’. These issues caused an overall decline in the healthcare workforce by 3.3% in the first two years following the pandemic.
PV school nurse Collete Rhoades used to work in the ER, giving her a perspective into the everyday stress nurses experience. “Losing a patient is always a challenge, and working with families and having those hard conversations with them can be really hard,” she said. “Sometimes the way patients talk to you and treat you can be really difficult, but you have to just grow some thick skin.”
The pandemic era only sparked the beginning of the healthcare crisis. Multiple factors since then have contributed to the growing shortage. One factor that is largely to blame is the lack of respect for the profession itself.
In November 2025, the Trump Administration’s Department of Education passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which moved to exclude nursing and other healthcare professions from the “professional degree” classification. This reclassification drastically impacts financial aid opportunities for prospective nurses.
Rhoades believes this will substantially hinder the healthcare workforce. “I think it’s going to deter some students from wanting to further their degree, because they’re not going to get money back,” Rhoades said. “I think it’s going to hurt the nursing shortage that we already have, and it’s going to make people not want to become nurses.”
Senior Avery Brown plans to attend Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota and major in nursing. She recognizes the damage this may have on other aspiring nurses. “I’m very fortunate and my parents saved a lot of money, so my whole college is already paid for, but I know for a lot of people this has affected them greatly,” said Brown.
Not only does the reclassification affect financial aid possibilities, but it also impacts the attitudes of both aspiring and existing nurses.
“It feels like an insult. A lot of people would die and suffer without nurses,” Brown said.
Especially damaging to nurses is the potential to further the false notion that nurses are less important than other healthcare professionals. “Sometimes, even in the hospital, the nurses are the first ones that see the patient, and it’s not the doctor- that’s what makes nurses valuable too, is just being the first set of eyes on a patient,” she said.
The lack of consideration for healthcare professionals has also translated into a poor work environment for nurses, including weak protections from workplace violence, unsafe staff ratios and insufficient health benefits. Due to these inadequacies, New York City is facing its largest nursing strike in history.
On Jan.12, an estimated 15,000 New York City nurses, representing 7% of NYC’s total workforce, went on strike to demand improved health benefits and working conditions. The strike has stretched over two weeks and is anticipated to continue into February.
While the future of nursing is still unclear, PV students like Brown maintain their ambition to become nurses despite the obstacles they may face.
“I still want to be a nurse because even with the hardships the nursing industry is going through, there will always be someone who needs help, and I want to be there to support them,” Brown said.
