The Texas Health and Human Services predict the Gulf Coast region, including Houston, will have a shortage of 10,611 vocational and 21,407 registered nurses by 2032. These shortages can negatively impact patients' care, cause nurse burnout and increase health care costs.
The Lone Star College Nursing program is working to address this serious shortage of health care workers. LSC graduates are qualified to seek careers as vocational nurses, registered nurses and nurse aids. Aastha Krebs graduated from LSC-North Harris in May 2013 with an associate degree in Applied Science - Integrated Nursing. Krebs, an international student from Nepal, believes her unparalleled experience of available resources such as the library, tutoring services, student organizations and events created a successful path toward her future as a registered nurse.
"The nursing program at LSC-North Harris is a competitive, exceptional and rigorous program filled with passionate faculty who care about their students and prepare us well for our careers," Krebs said. "The standards in didactic and clinical courses made me stand out as a new graduate and continue to do so."
After graduating from LSC-North Harris, Krebs attended Western Governor's University and earned a bachelor's degree in Nursing in 2016 and a master's degree in Business Administration-Health Care Management in 2018. Krebs is in her last year at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, where she will earn a Doctor of Nursing Practice Degree. She recently received the 2022 Excellence Nursing Award from the Good Samaritan Foundation.
"As a clinical student in 2012, I remember observing Aastha improve her skills steadily. She was always bright, energetic and professional," said Rajrani Sharma, Ph.D., LSC-North Harris Nursing Professor. "I am very proud of her and her accomplishments. She will undoubtedly be an asset to any nursing team she joins."
The LSC Nursing program has educated and awarded thousands of nursing degrees and certificates to students since 1972, with 828 served from spring 2021 to spring 2022. Students have access to state-of-the-art simulation equipment and laboratories to learn the necessary knowledge and skills for degree completion and successful entry into the healthcare field.
LSC offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree, an Associate of Applied Science degree in Nursing and certificate-level courses. For more information on all nursing programs, visit LoneStar.edu/Nursing.
Lone Star College enrolls over 80,000 students each semester providing high-quality, low-cost academic transfer and career training education. LSC is training tomorrow’s workforce today and redefining the community college experience to support student success. Stephen C. Head, Ph.D., serves as chancellor of LSC, the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area and has been named a 2022 Great Colleges to Work For® institution by the Chronicle of Higher Education, ranked 35th in Texas in the Forbes ‘America’s Best Employers By State’ list and recognized by Fortune Magazine and Great Place To Work® as one of this year’s Best Workplaces in Texas™. LSC consists of eight colleges, seven centers, eight Workforce Centers of Excellence and Lone Star Corporate College. To learn more, visit LoneStar.edu.