Here’s how the GA shortage of nurses is shifting state health care availability
Georgia hospitals and their patients continue to suffer from the worsening statewide nurse shortage, which has landed the state at the bottom of many statistical rankings for healthcare quality and efficiency.
A recent alleged shortage-related incident involves Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, which currently faces a lawsuit for allegations of failure to properly supervise 35-year-old Michael Sharadin, who died from a suicide under their care. Sharadin’s family blames lack of staffing for his death.
One of the institutions looking to combat the shortage is Mercer University’s College of Nursing, which received a $500k grant from Georgia’s Board of Health Care Workforce to help increase the number of nurses entering the workforce in middle Georgia and to improve the nursing school’s capacity.
While the grant marks a major win for the department and serves as inspiration for aspiring nurses, it also serves as a daunting reminder of the current critical circumstances both in Macon and statewide.
What does the GA shortage mean?
Falling nursing numbers can lead to less availability of immediate healthcare for patients. The current nurse-to-patient ratio is around one nurse for every 15 patients in the day and one nurse for every 25 patients at night, according to data from IntelyCare and some individual state governments.
Another study shows that South Carolina only has 8.33 nurses per 1,000 and is projected to need 4,990 nurses by 2030.
Macon’s specific nurse-to-patient ratio ranges from 1:5 to 1:6, assuming the city generally follows the trend of most prominent healthcare facilities. Atrium Healthcare and Piedmont Macon are the two largest healthcare providers in the area and fall within the ratio range. This means
Ratio changes not only burden nurses with filling the responsibility gap of a shorthanded staff, but also put patients at greater risk of being left unsupervised within facilities. These imbalances have also begun discouraging nurses from working in certain environments, especially in less urbanized areas, which has subsequently led to the raised risk of more rural hospitals closing nationwide.
There is still hope for the gap to begin closing in coming years as a new enrollment high has been reached in medical schools nationwide, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. While this enrollment record can combat the projected RN shortages, medical student retention and employed RN numbers remain as challenges to be tackled.
Why are there currently fewer nurses?
A great number of nurses have begun leaving or plan to leave the medical field in droves, largely due to the moral plummet following the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2021, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Washington Post conducted a survey across a representative sample of more than 2,000 nurses over 18 years old in the U.S. Survey results indicated that 55% of healthcare workers feel burned out due to the significant stress associated with their role.
Aside from the 18% of first-year newly registered nurses who quit in their first year, there are still several nursing students who want to help contribute to sustaining the dwindling workforce. Faith Fenin, a third-year pre-nursing student at Mercer University, shared her thoughts on the shortage and her understanding of the true depth that comes with being in that field of work.
“In my local community, there’s a clear need for nurses who can bridge gaps in access and understanding, especially among underserved populations,” Fenin said. “Nursing really is expanding beyond the bedside. It’s going into things like leadership, education, and advocacy.
Who is this mainly affecting?
Healthcare providers are still taking daily notice and are looking to solve the problem by continuing the push for improved funding, recruitment and support, just as Mercer has in the pre-nursing space.
Meanwhile, the size of the elderly population in need of nursing services continues to grow by the year. In the results of the 2020 census, Macon-Bibb County recorded a total population of 157,346, with 30,994 (19.7%) residents being between the ages of 60-80 and 37,648 (23.9%) being between the ages of 40-59.
It’s common at these stages of life to experience hints of general health decline, the emergence of chronic illnesses, and unforeseen medical emergencies. This risk will only continue to increase when hosting unstable or high-maintenance patients who might suffer from the consistency changes that come as a result of a higher nurse-to-patient ratio.
What can I do?
While the push for nurse retention and care quality in the workforce continues to be emphasized in healthcare programs and mass media, there are some healthcare alternatives available in the meantime. Some of the independent healthcare services that can meet you where you are to assist you both in and outside of the Macon-Bibb area include:
Cornerstone Caregiving | (478) 475-2547
Central Georgia Health Network | (478) 832-6134
Advanced Care Partners | (404) 835-3512
Southern Primary Care | (404) 477-0966
Southeast Medical Group | (770) 442-1911
Georgia Health Services Network | (770) 466-7771
InCommunity | (404) 634-4222
This story was originally published July 23, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Here’s how the GA shortage of nurses is shifting state health care availability ."