UTMB, with a staff of more than 11,500, is an “island gem,” said Bree Akingbola, UTMB senior nurse recruiter. “We’re not just a hospital,” she said. “We’re an entity. People are often surprised to hear about all the things we have and do here. I know I was. It’s a fantastic institution.” UTMB is hosting an RN Career Open House this Thursday at the UTMB Victory Lakes Specialty Care Center. Whether at the newly renovated Primary Care Pavilion or the flagship John Sealy Hospital, nurses are needed for inpatient care, urgent care, cath lab, critical care and specialty care — with an emphasis on the harder-to-fill areas of surgical ICU, burn ICU, pediatric ICU, ambulatory OR, interventional radiology and oncology.