Somewhere in America, perhaps here in Missouri, someone in a hospital or nursing home just pushed a nurse call button. And no one is answering. At least not right away. It’s not because no one heard the call; it’s because staff is responding to four other calls for assistance and some calls simply have to wait. Because there aren’t enough nurses to answer the call. Unfortunately, that kind of scenario is happening regularly across the country — in large metropolitan medical centers and small community hospitals — as the nation deals with a growing shortage of nursing professionals, a shortage magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic.