ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - South Georgia hospital leaders and frontline workers are sounding the alarm over a new federal proposal that would reclassify some nursing degrees as “non-professional.” They say the change could make it harder for students to access financial aid, deepen rural staffing shortages, and discourage future nurses before they ever reach the bedside.

Hospitals Already Short on Nurses

Hospitals across South Georgia have struggled for years to fill critical nursing positions. Phoebe Health alone has 212 open RN roles, and leaders expect demand to grow as the region’s population ages.

Now, they fear a proposal from the Trump administration could shrink the pipeline even further.

The administration says the change is aimed at reducing tuition costs by limiting some graduate-level loans. But under the proposal, degrees not labeled “professional” would lose access to programs like Grad PLUS and see lower loan caps — a shift hospital leaders say would hit nursing students especially hard.

“This can have an impact on somebody choosing not to advance their degree because they don’t have the means for funding or that access,” said Dr. Tracy Suber, Phoebe’s Vice President of Education and Talent Acquisition. “We put thousands of hours into clinical hours. This just feels dismissive of the profession.”

A Single Mom’s Story: ‘Who’s Going to Teach the Next Generation?’

For many in the field, the rule isn’t just a policy change — it’s personal.

Desirea Richardson, a single mother of three, knows the struggle of advancing in healthcare firsthand. Her career began humbly: washing dishes at South Georgia Medical Center while trying to provide for her first child.

But she kept climbing.

She earned her CNA, then her associate degrees, then her Licensed Practical Nurse credential — all while working full-time, raising her boys, and relying on grants, student loans, and employer support to make school affordable.

By 2024, she had bought her first home. By fall 2025, she enrolled in the RN program she’d dreamed about for years.

Now, she fears the proposal could close the door for mothers like her.

“I wonder as a single mom, what am I going to do to fund myself to get a higher education, to provide for the three children that I have?” Richardson said. “For them to put a cap on the loans, it’s going to put a lot of this at a standstill.”

And she says the change wouldn’t just hurt students.

“Who’s going to teach them?” she added. “You won’t be able to pass the baton.”

Why Nurse Educators Matter

Local hospitals say their biggest challenge isn’t just recruiting nurses — it’s finding qualified educators to train them.

“That requires you going back to school to get those advanced degrees to be able to teach,” Dr. Suber said. “We won’t have the nurses if we don’t have the teachers first.”

If the proposal limits financial aid for advanced nursing degrees, leaders fear fewer people will pursue the credentials needed to teach the next generation.

Ripple Effects for Rural Patients

Nursing shortages don’t just impact hospitals — they impact families.

Fewer nurses could mean:

• longer wait times
• overworked medical staff
• reduced access to care in rural counties
• delays in emergency response
• fewer local training opportunities for nursing students

Healthcare leaders say rural communities like those in South Georgia, where hospitals already compete for a small pool of nurses, would feel the impact most.

Despite Obstacles, Nurses Urge Hope

Even with the uncertainty, Richardson says she hopes students don’t give up.

“If you have a calling, you’ll figure out a way to pursue nursing,” she said. “Yes, it may be harder for a while, but we need nurses. Don’t give up hope.”

What’s Next

In the meantime, hospitals like Phoebe are expanding tuition assistance, strengthening partnerships with Albany Technical College, and increasing salary supplements to help keep more nurses trained and working here in South Georgia.

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