Dealing with blood, phlegm, puke and cranky people everyday isn’t popular with many people, but for nurses it’s just a regular day in the office.

Unfortunately, the nursing profession has suffered a lack of student interest, leading to a nationwide nursing shortage.

Junior nursing major Melissa Baker thinks that the shortage has been spawned by a challenging curriculum of math and science.

“It’s a tough program,” Baker said. “It’s very demanding, but it has to be because you don’t want somebody that got by on their coattails. People need to know what they’re doing.”

Senior nursing major Tina Lichon thinks that the shortage may be due to squeamish students.

“It’s an unappealing profession. People are afraid of body fluids,” she said.

But that isn’t Lichon’s only theory on the shortage.

“They think they’re & and they are & underpaid,” she said.

Marilyn Stromborg, chair of the school of nursing and a presidential research professor, agrees that poor salary and long hours may be to blame for a lack of interest in the field.

“The pay isn’t the best,” she said. “It doesn’t go up unless you leave the bedside and go into administration.”

Stromborg added that nurses often have to work around the clock and during holidays. Some, like doctors and surgeons, are on-call.

Though the job is demanding, Stromborg encourages students to consider nursing as a career.

“They all have jobs before they graduate and they can do whatever they want,” she said.

Because hospitals and nursing homes are desperately searching for qualified nurses, students can pick and choose where they would like to work without the fear of rejection. If a student wants to work for a hospital in Texas, Stromborg explained, then that hospital will pay to fly them down for the job.

But it’s not only the convenience of finding a job quickly after graduating that makes nursing such a promising career. It’s also about helping those who need the help and medical expertise of a qualified nurse.

“I think there’s an element of trust in saying you’re a nurse that you can’t say in other professions,” Stromborg said.