WGU Houston Nursing Lab Doubles in Size to Address Workforce Shortage
Leavitt School of Health aims to train 3,000 new nurses in Texas and adjacent states by 2028
HOUSTON, TX, DECEMBER 13, 2024 – The Western Governors University (WGU) Michael O. Leavitt School of Health (LSH) today announced the expansion of its Clinical Learning and Simulation Center in Houston, a nursing lab created to clinically train students across Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas. The investment’s goal is to educate and train more than 3,000 new nurses in the region by 2028, addressing the nursing shortage crisis and meeting the region’s growing demand for improved healthcare outcomes with the addition of new registered nurses (RN) and advanced practice registered nurses (APRN).
“The Houston lab expansion will help us in upskilling and reskilling the workforce by adding new nurses and nurse practitioners to the pipeline and clinically training students enrolled in our nursing prelicensure baccalaureate program and advanced practice master's and post-master's nursing programs,” said Anmy Mayfield, LSH vice president and dean for the College of Nursing. “This will ultimately propel the development of a patient-centric workforce that supports the regional health ecosystem.”
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the country is currently facing a nursing shortage that is causing a nationwide ripple effect of rising health care costs and lower quality of life. The Chamber reports an average of nine RNs in the U.S. for every 1,000 people, but Texas is one of the states that have the lowest nursing ratio with just seven RNs for every 1,000 people. WGU’s Houston lab expansion directly addresses the low nursing ratio concern by providing high-quality nursing education within and around the community. The lab expansion advances health equity by adding competent professionals to the community workforce for improved patient outcomes and better quality of life.
The newly renovated, nearly 16,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art facility features advanced high-fidelity medical education simulation equipment across six simulation rooms and two skills labs with 18 patient beds, four patient exam rooms, six student-focused debriefing rooms, and a large multipurpose room for training and teaching. The lab is equipped with lifelike manikins, that are patient simulators, to provide students with hands-on clinical training as they prepare to enter the medical field. The cost of WGU’s Houston lab exceeded $5 million, which underpins the university’s commitment to the community and its mission of changing lives for the better by creating pathways to opportunity.
Launched in 2019, WGU’s Houston lab was originally equipped to train students enrolled in the university’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (Prelicensure) program. The lab expansion supports the university’s innovative and expanded roster of hybrid, competency-based nursing programs — the nursing prelicensure program that adds new RNs to the workforce and various nurse practitioner (NP) programs that require advanced clinical training to meet patient needs. In this region, WGU has successfully graduated more than 900 students from the BSN Prelicensure program, and more than 1,500 students are currently enrolled. This program not only benefits the community with well-educated and clinically trained baccalaureate nurses for caregiving, but research also shows that BSN-RNs earn better salaries compared to their non-BSN counterparts.
The Houston lab expansion will enable thousands of students in the region to receive faculty instruction and clinical experience as they pursue nursing education. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) reports that more than 65,000 qualified applications (not applicants) were turned away from schools of nursing nationwide in 2023. While AACN mentions that the students submitting these applications may have been accepted and enrolled elsewhere, the report emphasizes that a multitude of reasons stall nurse education, including the lack of infrastructure and faculty.
“The Houston lab is near both airports and provides students with the clinical training experience they need in a way that limits travel and ensures high-quality learning,” said Kimberly Kelly-Cortez, LSH senior associate dean and director of BSN Prelicensure program. “The lab expansion is a strategic infrastructural investment that will support students in fulfilling their dream of becoming a nurse without leaving their community and region.”
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects a 6% expansion of the RN workforce over the next decade, with about 194,500 job openings each year, when nurse retirements and workforce exits are factored into the number of nurses needed nationwide. The BLS also projects a 46% growth in the number of NP roles over the next decade, with about 135,000 job openings.
“Between being a mother and a full-time employee, I never thought I could be a nursing student as well, but WGU made it possible,” said Brittany Pichon, a Houston-based BSN Prelicensure student at WGU. “It was a dream I had ever since I saw nurses care for my daughter by working nonstop to help her breathe and thrive. That was the moment I decided to join the noble profession to extend the care that my daughter received. From feeling overwhelmed when I first walked into the lab to working and gaining clinical experience in one, I can confidently say that I’ve come a long way.”
With clinical training being a critical component for nursing education, WGU is steadily investing in programs and infrastructure to promote the attainment of education within and around communities for a potential increase in local and regional employment. Along with establishing its own nursing labs, the university partners with healthcare employers in communities for training sites and clinical faculty and staff. WGU currently owns nursing labs in Houston, TX, Salt Lake City, UT, and Kansas City, MO, with additional facilities scheduled to open in the next year. Learn more about WGU’s BSN Prelicensure program and the nurse practitioner programs.
About Michael O. Leavitt School of Health (LSH): The school, named in honor of the former governor of Utah and former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, was established in 2006 with the mission to make a difference in the fields of healthcare, nursing, and higher education through competency-based education. The school conferred 5.4% of all bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing across the country during the 2021-2022 academic year. According to the Utah Foundation Research Brief, LSH represents more than 170,000 jobs in the healthcare industry and the school produced a whopping 17% of the nation’s registered nurses earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2021. The school has also been recognized for its impact by Platte County, Missouri. With more than 100,000 graduates and over 118,000 degrees already conferred by LSH, the school presently serves nearly 25,000 students nationwide. Learn more at Leavitt School of Health (wgu.edu).
