Pushing a computer on wheels ahead of her at University Hospital, Margo Myrna had to not only shake off the rust but also overcome a cultural and language barrier to get back into nursing.

Although she had been a nurse in her native Poland for 13 years, Mrs. Myrna had been a stay-at-home mom in the United States for the past five years.

"It was a really, really long way" to get back, she said, having just completed a nurse re-entry program at University.

Although more like her might be finding their way back into the profession, the country still faces a looming nursing shortage.

The entry of a surprising number of nurses in their early 30s and later into the ranks caused some experts last year to revise their estimates of the nursing shortage. In a study published in the journal Health Affairs, the projected shortage of registered nurses by 2020 was reduced from 800,000 to about 340,000.

But, the authors note, that is still three times larger than the current shortage of about 115,000 nationwide, and the Bu reau of Labor Statistics is still projecting a need for 1 million new and replacement nurses by 2016.

In Georgia, the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration projects a shortage of 8,000 nurses by 2012 and 32,000 by 2020.

To combat that, a nursing task force is working to increase nurse graduates throughout the University System of Georgia from 1,700 a year in 2006 to about 2,600 in 2010, said task force Chairwoman Lucy Marion, the dean of the Medical College of Georgia's School of Nursing.

It still won't be enough, she said, and the task force has submitted an even more ambitious five-year plan that the university system is still mulling. The plans are going forward despite a call for schools to trim their budgets by 5 percent this year, she said.

"Everybody now is trying to grow those numbers that we committed to do, of course, in the face of a budget cut," Dr. Marion said. "We're trying to balance it as best we can."

MCG is trying to do it without cutting faculty because of regulations on how many students per faculty the school must maintain, she said.

"When we cut, we lose student slots," Dr. Marion said.

One way the school can make up for that is through increased use of simulator laboratories, which allow for more testing and retesting of hands-on skills, she said.

Augusta is benefiting from programs such as the nurse re-entry program, which allows people such as Mrs. Myrna to get back to what they love, said Marilyn Bowcutt, the vice president for patient care services.

"It's not that they left nursing because they didn't enjoy it," she said. "It was because they had family commitments in most cases."

And they come back committed, Mrs. Bowcutt said.

"The positive part is they have life experience and they're really enthusiastic and they know what nursing is like and they are choosing to come back to it," she said.

Polish and American hospitals are a little different, especially with all of the professional support people here, Mrs. Myrna said.

"Here there are so many people on the floor and they have a lot of help here," she said. "There it is just doctors and nurses."

But what isn't different is why they do it, and why she came back to nursing.

"I feel like I need to help them, and I feel good that I can do this," Mrs. Myrna said. "I really want to help."

Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tom.corwin@augustachronicle.com.