NC’s Nursing Shortage Complicates COVID Care, Vaccination Planning

By Stacia Brown,

Anita Rao

Published December 9, 2020 at 12:02 PM EST

A nurse sitting against a wall on the hospital floor. The nurse is covered in full gear: a white mask, blue shoe covers, a blue robe covering, blue gloves, and a blue nair net, and clear goggles. The nurse is looking straight ahead.

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 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.

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Stacia Brown

Stacia L. Brown is a writer and audio storyteller who has worked in public media since 2016, when she partnered with the Association of Independents in Radio and Baltimore's WEAA 88.9 to create The Rise of Charm City, a narrative podcast that centered community oral histories. She has worked for WAMU’s daily news radio program, 1A, as well as WUNC’s The State of Things. Stacia was a producer for WUNC's award-winning series, Great Grief with Nnenna Freelon and a co-creator of the station's first children's literacy podcast, The Story Stables. She served as a senior producer for two Ten Percent Happier podcasts, Childproof and More Than a Feeling. In early 2023, she was interim executive producer for WNYC’s The Takeaway.

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Anita Rao

Anita Rao is an award-winning journalist, host, creator, and executive editor of "Embodied," a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, relationships & health.

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