Las Vegas college ramps up efforts as Nevada faces critical nursing shortage

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - States across the country continue to face a familiar and common problem a shortage of nurses. One local college in Las Vegas is working to address the need.

Alreeze Crystal Mercado was living in Sacramento pursuing a career in child development but a series of life events changed her life forever and changed her path to helping others.

Mercado never thought she would want to work in health care for the rest of her life until she lost both of her maternal grandparents.

“Due to an unforeseen accident and at that moment, I just thought to myself what if I was there to be able to prevent that,” said Mercado.

Just three weeks later she lost another family member.

“My grandfather on my dad’s side also passed away so in the same month I lost three grandparents,” said Mercado.

Shortly after that, her mom and stepdad were involved in a snow accident.

“When all of those things happened, it felt like nursing was my actual true calling to be able to help serve people, to care for people and care for other people’s family members,” said Mercado.

Mercado quicky acted. She did her research and packed her bags, moved to Las Vegas to start her nursing journey at Arizona College of nursing Las Vegas.

“I am not going to sugarcoat,” said Mercado. “Nursing school is stressful but at the same time it is such a rewarding journey.”

The school currently has 500 nursing students who take part in a nine-semester program.

This accelerated program allows them to ramp up efforts to help address the nurse shortage.

“We see more and more the need for our new nursing students to come in and be able to fill that gap,” said the Dean of Arizona College of Nursing Las Vegas Dr. Jill Rankin.

“Right now, being a nursing student, I see that there is a need for it, and it makes me want to work 100 times harder,” said Mercado.

Rankin adds students are already getting job offers prior to graduation and the school’s new simulation room gives them the hands-on experience to be ready for that next step.

“They have to be ready,” said Rankin. “They must have more skill than ever before and it is a combination of their didactic lectures, their skills, their simulation, and their clinical experience. It is a comprehensive education to get them ready to go.”

Mercado said while nursing school is tough, she hopes others consider entering the field.

“If you feel a one percent inch of pursuing something it is not too late,” said Mercado. “I came from a different career industry. You can pursue anything you set your mind to.”

Nevada would need to recruit more than 4,000 registered nurses to meet the national average. The problem is, statewide hospitals are getting overwhelmed by the nursing shortage.

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