At 11 p.m., registered nurse Alexis Lynch gulps down a Dr Pepper and some animal crackers to give her energy for the 16th hour of her shift on the pediatrics floor at Shands at UF. She agreed to work late even despite being scheduled to leave at 7 p.m. because there were not enough nurses to cover the shift.
The demand for nurses far outweighs the supply on a national level, as well as right here in Gainesville.
"We are definitely understaffed," Lynch said. "I am called in almost every day that I am off because they need me to work."
Ruth Thompson, a charge nurse at Shands at UF, blames the nursing shortage on a lack of resources and professors, as well as the stress attributed to the job.
"The hospital says that it can't afford to pay nurses overtime," she said. "And there just aren't enough professors in the college programs to teach students."
Practicing nurses are paid much more than professors in the industry, Thompson said.
"I would love to teach, but I just can't take the pay cut," she said.
Tracy Wright, director of public relations and communications for the College of Nursing at UF, said the budget cuts at UF may be threatening the undergraduate nursing program.
"We do not know the exact impact of the cuts yet, but one proposal calls for eliminating the undergraduate program altogether," she said.
It is more likely that the college as a whole will have to scale back, rather than cutting entire programs, Wright said.
"The nursing program is very competitive," she said. "We have limited resources and clinical spaces."
Florida law limits the number of students allowed to participate in clinicals, which are direct observations of patients, Wright said.
Job burnout also appears to be a factor in the nursing shortage.
The 12-hour-plus shifts were taxing on Rita Toro, who said working in the neonatal intensive care unit was extremely demanding.
"A lot of nurses are leaving the field to go to less stressful jobs at clinics, schools and nursing homes," Toro said.
Toro retired from her job as a nurse at North Florida Regional Medical Center more than 10 years ago to open the boutique Especially for Women located on Newberry Road.
"I left nursing to open a business for women diagnosed with breast cancer," Toro said. "It was more flexible for raising children, and I wanted to start a family."
There were nurses who would go three days without seeing their own children, Toro said.
"I can't imagine what it would be like to have this job and take care of a family," Lynch said.
Despite the stress and strain of working on holidays, Lynch said she is happy she chose a pediatric nursing career.
"There are always going to be illnesses and injuries," Lynch said. "Health care doesn't close. We are open 24 hours a day."
