Nursing student Madison Stock is entering her third semester at SUNY Sullivan. She will graduate in May and hopes to get a job as a nurse.

“I love helping people. I've always had a love for helping people and seeing everything that's gone on the past couple of years and the recent changes and makes me want to help out even more,” said Stock.

Stock already has some experience working in the health care field, but COVID-19 pushed her to go back to school and get her nursing degree.

“It was very traumatic and you've seen a lot of things, but most importantly, you've seen a lot of teamwork, and everybody getting together to help one another,” she said, “and that's really the importance of it all is to take care of people and everyone to just help everyone.”

The New York State Department of Health projects there will be a shortage of more than 39,000 registered nurses in the state by 2030. Stock is one of many students at SUNY Sullivan getting certified to become a frontline worker.

SUNY Sullivan President Jay Quaintance says he believes the increase in enrollment is because COVID-19 reinforced the dire need for frontline health care workers.

“What we're seeing now is that students are coming back to campus to really reenter this really important work for [the] sector,” said Quaintance.

The benefits and salary in the field went up by 3.4% compared to last year. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average national pay for a nurse is around $83,000 per year; in New York, that salary is around $96,000.