‘Definitely A Huge Problem’: Nurses, Faculty Grapple With St. Louis Nursing Shortage

Gabrielle Bahr remembers being fascinated by the medical field even as a young child. And her family’s experience a handful of years later, when her younger sister spent a few months in a neonatal intensive care unit and interacted closely with the nurses there, solidified Bahr’s choice of career: She knew then and there it would become her passion. Now a staff nurse in the emergency department of Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Bahr has zero regrets about her job path despite its inherent stresses and difficulties. At the end of each long shift, she knows her work is meaningful. But sometimes she heads home feeling even more exhausted than usual. That’s because her nursing team, like so many in Missouri, is chronically short staffed. Industry veterans like Natalie Murphy describe the situation as a crisis, noting that the region’s nurse vacancy rate stands at about 20% among hospitals, clinics and outpatient provider locations. A leader at the University of Missouri-St. Louis’ College of Nursing, Murphy is working with a variety of partners to address the issue. But it’s not an easy thing to fix, as Murphy explains in this conversation with Bahr and host Sarah Fenske.