University of Mobile senior Morgan Howard says nursing is a calling she wasn’t about to ignore.

“And I really had a passion for caring for patients and that’s what I knew I wanted to do. So I feel like it’s really important to be passionate about making a difference and really caring for people and making sure they have the best health outcomes. Cause that’s what you’d want for your family, right?”

But she’s about to step into a field that’s nearly on life support. The pandemic took a toll on the medical field, with many leaving under incredible stress. Now, thinning staffs are left to work through multiple covid surges, which can easily overwhelm an ER, on top of patients coming in for other things like strokes, heart attacks and car accidents.

"You know, Alabama's healthcare system is strained as it is. We've seen a lot of rural hospitals close. We barely make it with the beds we have and then you take into account fluid COVID and it just continues to decrease the number of available beds,” says Dr. Wes Stubblefield with the Alabama Department of Public Health.

“But I feel like everybody put their education on hold a little bit during covid, so not a lot of nursing students were graduating at that time.” BUTTED TO 00;04;00;37 “I feel like now nursing students are getting back into the swing of things, a lot of people are graduating, and I feel like the health field is going to go from a deficit and there are going to be suddenly a lot of nurses going in,” says Howard.

And those new nurses can expect to have a heavy load.

"I think we're going to be dealing with COVID for a long time. I think it's now just going to become one more pathogen,” says Alabama Hospitals Association President Dr. Don Williamson.

Howard’s response to that—the cavalry’s coming!

“I think that’s how they feel. And we’re excited to be that, we’re excited to do that. You could be the person that makes a difference in that person’s day, even for the short amount of time that you’re in there.”

Howard graduates May 6th.