It wasn’t that long ago that nurses were hard to find in Oklahoma.
Despite the fact we train them at CareerTech centers or two-year colleges such as Northern Oklahoma College, nurses are hard to keep in Oklahoma.
Oh, the training is terrific, but getting the nurses to stay, well, that problem hasn’t really improved.
In fact, our state faces a severe nursing shortage.
Right now, Oklahoma ranks near the bottom nationally (46th) for nurses per capita.
The issue has grown worse, complicated by pandemic burnout, retirements, and nurses leaving for higher pay. All this has led to critical staff shortages, especially in rural areas.
Then, in November, things got worse.
Just about a month ago, the U.S. Department of Education moved to cap unsubsidized student loans for future Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists at $100,000. The move stems, the department said, from provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the department’s definition of “professional degrees,” which excludes the nurse anesthesiology profession.
In a statement issued at the time, American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology President Jeff Molter said the Department of Education’s draft definition creates “an anticompetitive environment among anesthesia providers.”
“Critical care nurses pursuing careers as CRNAs could be pushed away from the profession if access to unsubsidized federal loans is capped, all while physician anesthesia residents continue to receive the full $200,000 loan allotment,” he said.
Molter said capping loan amounts for nurse anesthesiology programs would not decrease tuition.
“Much like physician anesthesia programs, CRNA programs carry the cost of expensive equipment for training, malpractice insurance, and competitive pay for high-quality, experienced faculty,” he said. “Current students have expressed grave concern, sharing that a $100,000 loan cap isn’t just a policy number on paper, but the difference between becoming a CRNA or a financial barrier pushing nurse anesthesiology out of reach for many.”
So why would Oklahoma want to make things more difficult?
Patrice Greenawalt, the executive director of the Oklahoma Nursing Center, told media representatives the new loan limit is relatively low for graduate-level education.
“Enrollment is limited in both public and private institutions because of the limited faculty available,” she said.
“And so, when you limit that, it becomes more competitive. The higher the cost, the less likely we are to recruit people into those areas.”
Echoing Greenawalt, the Oklahoma Nurses Association expressed strong opposition to the proposed federal student loan caps, arguing the change threatens the nursing workforce pipeline, particularly for advanced degrees, and could worsen existing patient care shortages in Oklahoma.
Oklahomans know the value of nurses and all medical professionals. There have been moments in our history where nurses, doctors and others in the medical community stepped into a catastrophe and saved countless
We must never forget that.
It’s time we treat all nurses with the respect they deserve - no loan caps and proper credit for the service they provide.
M. Scott Carter is an award-winning political and investigative reporter with more than 40 years’ experience covering federal and state government and politics in Oklahoma. He can be reached at scott.carter@hilliarymediagroup.
com.