\u201cI\u2019m excited to step into the field and make a difference,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
UNT Health started its nursing program back in 2023 to fill gaps in the healthcare workforce. State officials said more than 40 healthcare occupations are facing workforce shortages in Texas \u2013 with nursing having the highest demand.<\/p>\n
By 2032, there will be a deficit of almost 60,000 nurses, based on projections from the Texas Hospital Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n Students from UNT Health’s first nursing class wear their pins at the end of the graduation ceremony Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026.<\/p>\n Carretero said it\u2019s important to address the growing need for nurses because they play a critical role in patient care throughout the healthcare system.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are the people that are at the bedside the most with the patients,\u201d Carretero said. \u201cIt\u2019s great to see that 29 of us are graduating and will address some part of the shortage.\u201d<\/p>\n Carretero walked across the stage in the middle of a lecture hall on the UNT Fort Worth Campus. Her mentor took the fabric sash in her hands and placed it over Carretero’s shoulders before pulling her into a tight hug with whispered congratulations.<\/p>\n As Carretero walked back to her seat, she straightened out the small pin on the stole. The pin represents her transition from being a student into being a professional nurse.<\/p>\n She said she\u2019s honored to be part of UNT Health first pinning ceremony.<\/p>\n After returning to her seat, Carretero wore a bright smile before her focus shifted to one of the other graduates \u2013 Alberthy Carretero, Estrella\u2019s older brother.<\/p>\n Alberthy Carretero is pinned by his mentor during the graduation ceremony of the first class of BSN students Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026, at UNT Health Fort Worth. <\/p>\n A personal mission<\/p>\n Estrella said growing up she watched her parents struggle to understand what was happening during medical appointments because of language barriers. It\u2019s why she wanted to go into healthcare.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to be part of addressing those language disparities in healthcare and being able to make a family feel seen and comfortable,\u201d she said, \u201cand not just have an interpreter speaking to them but be able to make them feel good in a time where it may be their worst time that they’re experiencing.\u201d<\/p>\n Estrella isn\u2019t trying to address the issue on her own, though.<\/p>\n Alberthy said addressing the healthcare needs of North Texas\u2019 growing Spanish-speaking population is one of his biggest drivers.<\/p>\n \u201cWith all my patients, I see myself and my family,\u201d Alberthy said. \u201cIt\u2019s scary\u2026being in a place where others don\u2019t speak the same language as you, where miscommunications can lead to death, things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n In October, both Carretero siblings will start their new jobs at Cook Children\u2019s Hospital in Fort Worth \u2013 serving the community they grew up in.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re just really gritty and inspiring students,\u201d said Sandy Manoushagian, who works at Cook Children\u2019s.<\/p>\n She was an instructor and mentor to both siblings while they were in the program. She said she can\u2019t think of any better shoulders for future UNT nursing students to stand on.<\/p>\n \u201cAnytime you step into something new\u2026there is a lot of pressure,\u201d Manoushagian said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of expectation, and these two in particular just rose to that challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n A family connection<\/p>\n Estrella Carretero wipes tears from her eyes during the graduation ceremony of the first class of BSN students Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026, at UNT Health Fort Worth. <\/p>\n Part of what prepared Estrella and Alberthy for the pressure of the program was the family history that led them to pursue nursing.<\/p>\n While Estrella always knew she wanted to work in healthcare, she said she wouldn\u2019t have completed this program without her parents.<\/p>\n \u201cComing from a Hispanic background and immigrant parents \u2013 my dad\u2019s been working since he was 12 years old,\u201d Estrella said. \u201cHe used to pick crops and now he does roofing, so to see him come home drenched in sweat, and then my mom, she cleans houses. Just seeing how they once left their homeland to come here and give us a better opportunity, and now they\u2019re seeing the fruit of the labor. I think that\u2019s beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n Unlike his sister, Alberthy hadn\u2019t planned on a career in healthcare. Growing up, he wanted to be an aerospace engineer so he could work on the jets he saw near the Lockheed Martin base.<\/p>\n But in 2016, their oldest sister, Brisa Carretero, died in a car accident \u2013 just a few months before she was set to start nursing school.<\/p>\n \u201cThat left me with a lot of emotions and grief and sadness that I wanted to turn into something good,\u201d Alberthy said.<\/p>\n Almost exactly a decade later, he and Estrella completed the degree Brisa didn\u2019t have the chance to start.<\/p>\n Estrella said part of what made nursing school so special for her was getting to complete the program alongside her brother. She said they were able to push each other to study and improve because they both knew they wanted to go further in their careers.<\/p>\n \u201cHe would always be clapping for me,\u201d Estrella said. \u201cI never noticed who wasn\u2019t clapping for me because he\u2019s always been such a strong shoulder for me to lean on\u2026He would be there for me and likewise I would be that for him.\u201d<\/p>\n Alberthy wiped away tears as he said he was happy to cheer her on.<\/p>\n \u201cYou get to choose who you marry, you know, your partner, this and that,\u201d he said. \u201cBut you don\u2019t get to choose to be a big brother\u2026It\u2019s just natural. It\u2019s an instinct to want to see the people that you grew up with become professional and grow and learn and love and laugh and all that stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n Part of something bigger<\/p>\n Rebecca Burns, associate dean of undergraduate nursing at UNT Health\u2019s College of Nursing, was emotional thinking about how much the first class has grown and changed since they started back in 2023.<\/p>\n The first class of BSN students listen to Dr. Kirk Calhoun, president, during a graduation ceremony Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026, at UNT Health Fort Worth. <\/p>\n \u201cThey are holding themselves different,\u201d she said. \u201cThey have a confidence that is just unmatched\u2026These are not the same kids I knew just a few terms ago.\u201d<\/p>\n Burns was one of the people involved in developing UNT\u2019s nursing program. In addition to addressing workforce shortages, she said one of the goals of the program was to train higher-skilled nurses.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have to be competent before they leave here,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd boy, are we seeing the difference\u2026[Our clinical partners] just grabbed our students up and they were placed in typically very hard new graduate positions to get, like in ICUs and NICUs and things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Sandy Manoushagian, Alberthy and Estrella\u2019s mentor and instructor, said the siblings and their classmates are the face of the next generation of nurses, and they are \u201cup to the task.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThese are the change agents,\u201d she said. \u201cThey are going to make tremendous contributions. Their impact is going to be monumental and I\u2019m just so humbled and excited that I get to be on the sidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n She said Alberthy and Estrella don\u2019t take the responsibilities they carry as first-generation college students, nurses and role models lightly.<\/p>\n Alberthy said it\u2019s a privilege to be a nurse.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope that everyone that does want to go into nursing realizes that this is very serious, but at the same time very rewarding,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Abigail Ruhman is KERA\u2019s health reporter. Got a tip? Email Abigail at\u00a0aruhman@kera.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787849175_300_.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Alberthy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787849176_552_.jpeg\"\/)
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