Data says Utah (still) has the worst nursing shortage in the country

  • July 22, 2025
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July 22: RadioACTive talks with University of Utah College of Nursing's Dr. Teresa Garrett about the nursing pipeline and ways to flush the system. Plus, Craft Lake City is back for Round #3 of Meet Your Maker, highlighting artisans and vendors at the 17th annual DIY Fest.

Plug Into Your Community with Tonight's Guests, Organizations & Community Events


Rallies & Resources Spotlight (full list here):

  • Aug. 8-10: 17th Annual DIY Fest | Utah State Fair Park, 155 N 1000 W, SLC. RadioACTive gets a preview with Craft Lake City's Programs Administrator & DIY Fest STEM Building Coordinator,  Jeremy Johnson; STEM Exhibitor  Andrew Jensen of Code Gets Creative; and artisan Kayleigh Ross of Shared Bones. 

    • DIY Fest Tickets: Secure your tickets today to Utah’s largest celebration of creativity at the 17th Annual Craft Lake City DIY Fest Presented By Harmons! Enjoy delicious local food, live performances, and shopping products from over 350 local exhibitors. Kids 12 and under are FREE with a parent or guardian. $13 day-of for veterans and service members. Well-behaved dogs are allowed with the purchase of a Dog Admission.

  • We Shall Overcome: The RadioACTive Team — Lara Jones, Connor Estes and Valene MC — talk about the cuts to public media approved by the Senate and House last week. The short answer is, KRCL will no longer be able to count on the $136,000 grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that allowed us to add part-time producers for RadioACTive. 

    • Not only do they (Connor and Val, let's be real here) help bring you nearly 900 guests from the community a year and more than 40 local bands to play live on RadioACTive, they also film short docs, like Show Us Your 45s and our new WATCH series, and they host music shows when DJs take a break.

    • KRCL is just one of the many radio stations that will be heavily affected by this vote, alongside many other communities across the country that rely on federal funding to provide emergency alerts, news updates, and music streaming rights.

    • But there is reason to be hopeful. Listener generosity since this news broke has blown us away. Thank you, thank you, thank you. With your support, KRCL has been able to do great things. 

    • And we have just launched an exciting partnership with our partners in the Rocky Mountain Community Radio coalition to broaden our engineering capacity thanks to a major grant from Press Forward. We refurbished and upgraded our live band room at the station. And we have KRCL’s Day in the Park coming up on August 23.

    • Let’s focus on the good in the world and gather together around the speakers and in person to celebrate the diverse community we’ve built. We are Listeners’ Community Radio of Utah KRCL, and we shall overcome.

  • Folkie Protest Song: Singer-songwriter Jesse Welles wrote this one about PBS that we share on the show tonight. It's well worth a listen a million times or two. Who is he? Read: Jesse Welles, a Folk Musician Who 'Sings the News,' Is Turning the Page (NYT, Feb. 12, 2025).

We're #1 ... in the Nursing Shortage Rankings

Meet Teresa Garrett, DNP, RN, APHN-BC, who's spent more than 35 years in a variety of settings, including health system leadership, statewide public health, care management, long-term care, and home care. This life-long Salt Lake City resident, public health advocate and community volunteer has seen it all. Let's find out what she thinks needs to be done about Utah's nursing shortage. Why? Well ...

  • EDUCATION: Dr. Teresa Garrett is an Associate Professor at the University of Utah College of Nursing. She is a lifelong Salt Lake City resident and community volunteer. Dr. Garrett graduated from the University of Utah College of Nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice program in 2014. 

  • COMMUNITY: She is passionate about leadership, advocacy, health policy, epidemiology, and emotional intelligence. She has always considered families and communities as her patients. Dr Garrett is currently the Co-Lead for the Utah Action Coalition (UAC), a broad-based collaboration of champions for nursing and health equity. For the UAC, Dr Garret is the co-principal investigator for an innovations grant focused on eliminating structural racism from nursing education. Dr. Garrett is a founding Utah Health Workforce Advisory Council member and serves as the Chair of the Legislative Review Subcommittee for that body. 

  • VOLUNTEER: Her volunteer experience includes the YWCA, Utah Organization of Nurse Leaders, Holy Cross Ministries, and the Salt Lake City Police Civilian Review Board. Over the past 35 years, Dr. Garrett has worked in various settings, including health system leadership, statewide public health, care management, long-term care, and home care.

We Want Your Feedback

How'd you like the show? Share your thoughts, suggestions and observations by calling the RadioACTive hotline: ‪(385) 800-1889. Or, send a voicememo to radioactive@krcl.org. Please tell us your name and neighborhood and leave a short message that may air on the show. So, keep it clean!

Tonight's RadioACTive Team

Guests' views, thoughts, or opinions are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the board, staff, or members of Community Radio of Utah, KRCL 90.9 FM. Tonight's RadioACTive team included:

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