May 6th through May 12th is teacher and nurse appreciation week, and it is well deserved. Teachers and nurses sacrifice so much of their time for us, and they deserve our appreciation. There aren’t enough of them, and they are very typically underappreciated and not treated with respect.  

The reasons for teacher shortages are typically low wages, numerous challenges, and a high amount of work. There are 55% of public schools in America that face a teacher shortage, mostly due to these issues. Teachers simply just can’t keep up with the high demand coming from parents, schools, and students. Between fall of 2021 and fall of 2022 over 13% of teachers in Texas quit their jobs, which is a record high attrition rate, causing schools to have to cut their budgets and desperately look for more teachers to fill in the gaps. 

Nursing shortages cause a lot of problems. Not only are there more room for errors, but it also leads to a more stressful work environment with nurses having to be in multiple places at once. Texas has the 2nd highest ranking of nursing shortages, after California. The main reason for this shortage is the fallout from COVID-19, lack of nursing teachers, and heightened burnt-out rates. Nurses typically work long shifts of 8-12 hours, physical demands, exposure to illness, and poor treatment from patients daily. These numerous reasons just add onto the reasons why not a lot of people want to be nurses. 

Teachers and nurses face a daily long list of demands and have a lot of expectations and pressure on them. It is important to show respect and appreciation for these hard-working people, especially during teacher and nurse appreciation week. Be kind to those helping you and be thankful that you have access to healthcare and education, since there’s a lot of people less fortunate than us.