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Lt. Gov Dewhurst and Sen. Harris visit to encourage nursing students

Written by Sharayah Sherrod, The Shorthorn staff

Thursday, 21 January 2010 07:11 PM

Lt. Gov., David Dewhurst and Carolyn L. Cason, associate dean for reseach, go through some features of a simulated mannequin Thursday in the Smart Hospital. The Lt. Gov. toured the Smart Hospital to find out the effectiveness of the program.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (R) and Sen. Chris Harris (R - Texas) toured the Smart Hospital Thursday and discussed the “critical need” for more Texas nursing students to both graduate and work in Texas.

“We have a challenge in front of us, ladies and gentlemen, that’s going to affect all these nurses and all these instructors, and all of us in government and everyone here in the state,” Dewhurst said. “We are one of the fastest growing states in the country, population-wise.”

Dewhurst said the state population increases about 1,500 people everyday and that all of them will need health care and nurses. He said Texas operated with a shortage of about 8,000 nurses in 2008. By adding jobs, the former rancher said he hopes to address health care needs and bolster the economy.

“If we don’t fix that problem, we’ll be short 71,000 registered nurses,” Dewhurst said after the tour. “Now that will have a direct effect on the quality of care in Texas.”

Sen. Harris said if the problem Dewhurst spoke of is not addressed, Texas will most certainly suffer.

“If we don’t have more native nurses to hit that demand of 71,000, people aren’t going to come to Texas. If they can’t get health care, they’re not going to come,” he said.

Dewhurst’s interim charges, released last week, include addressing nursing shortages. Interim charges are topics that legislators are to be reviewing and researching now, in preparation for the next legislative session.

“If there is one theme in the 159 interim charges that I put out last week, it is creating more jobs,” Dewhurst said.

Nursing senior Cynthia Castaneda said she enjoyed meeting the officials. She said having such state-of-the-art facilities such as the Smart Hospital, which houses 60 simulated patients, is allowing her to be more equipped to enter the workforce upon graduation.

“The more they have here, the more experience we can get and the more prepared we will be,” she said.

Investing in health professionals and reducing shortages in nursing could help Texas recover from the economic slump most of the country finds itself in, Dewhurst said.

“I’m pleased that Texas was probably one of the last states into the recession. We want to make sure we’re one of the first states out,” the native Texan said, saying that addressing the critical need of nursing shortages should help against the recession.

Harris, whom Dewhurst mentioned advocated for UTA in the past, will submit reports to the lieutenant governor this fall about the issues in Dewhurst’s interim charges before the next legislative session.

Elizabeth Poster, School of Nursing dean, and Caroyln Cason, School of Nursing associate dean for research, gave the tour through the Smart Hospital and said they were glad Dewhurst and Harris could come and see how the funding they’ve supported is impacting UTA.

President James Spaniolo agreed.

“The Smart Hospital and what we’re doing in the school of nursing is outstanding—I think the wave of the future—and we’re happy to share that with the Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst,” Spaniolo said.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 21 January 2010 07:25 PM )

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