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NC’s Nursing Shortage Complicates COVID Care, Vaccination Planning

WUNC | By Anita Rao,
Stacia Brown
Published December 9, 2020 at 12:02 PM EST

COVID-19 has exacerbated an existing shortage of licensed nurses in the state of North Carolina. Too few nurses are available for staffing at local hospitals, leading to double and triple shifts for nurses who are healthy enough to work, as well as nurses’ increased exposure to COVID-19. This problem is expected to persist after vaccines become available, and retired nurses are being asked to return to work and assist with future distribution.Host Anita Rao talks to Dennis Taylor of the North Carolina Nurses Association, Audrey Snyder, an associate dean in UNC Greensboro's nursing program, and Schquthia Peacock, family nurse practitioner about the current state of nursing in North Carolina.

Host Anita Rao talks about the impact of the nursing shortage with Dennis Taylor, president of the North Carolina Nurses Association; Schquthia Peacock, family nurse practitioner at Preston Medical Associates in Cary; and Audrey Snyder, an Associate Dean for Experiential Learning and Innovation at the UNC-Greensboro School of Nursing.

Copyright 2020 North Carolina Public Radio
Anita Rao
Anita Rao is the host and creator of "Embodied," a live, weekly radio show and seasonal podcast about sex, relationships & health. She's also the managing editor of WUNC's on-demand content. She has traveled the country recording interviews for the Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps production department, founded and launched a podcast about millennial feminism in the South, and served as the managing editor and regular host of "The State of Things," North Carolina Public Radio's flagship daily, live talk show. Anita was born in a small coal-mining town in Northeast England but spent most of her life growing up in Iowa and has a fond affection for the Midwest.
See stories by Anita Rao
Stacia Brown
Stacia Brown comes to WUNC from Washington, DC, where she was a producer for WAMU’s daily news radio program, 1A. She’s the creator and host of two podcasts, The Rise of Charm City and Hope Chest. Her audio projects have been featured on Scene on Radio, a podcast of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University; BBC 4’s Short Cuts; and American Public Radio’s Terrible, Thanks for Asking.
See stories by Stacia Brown