Hospitals competing for nurses as US coronavirus cases surge

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

News hasn't picked up allnurses reports that nurses being furloughed, new grads unable to find work due to decreased surgery's/hospital income, decreased orientation staff???

ABC News   11/02/2020

Hospitals competing for nurses as US coronavirus cases surge

Quote

 

U.S. hospitals are scrambling to hire more nurses as the coronavirus pandemic surges, leading to stiff competition and increased costs

FENTON, Michigan -- As the coronavirus pandemic surges across the nation and infections and hospitalizations rise, medical administrators are scrambling to find enough nursing help — especially in rural areas and at small hospitals.

Nurses are being trained to provide care in fields where they have limited experience. Hospitals are scaling back services to ensure enough staff to handle critically ill patients. And health systems are turning to short-term travel nurses to help fill the gaps.

Adding to the strain, experienced nurses are "burned out with this whole (pandemic)” and some are quitting, said Kevin Fitzpatrick, an emergency room nurse at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Michigan, where several left just in the past month to work in hospice or home care or at outpatient clinics.

“And replacing them is not easy," Fitzpatrick said....

But the departures are not surprising, according to experts, considering not only the mental toll but the fact that many nurses trained in acute care are over 50 and at increased risk of complications if they contract COVID-19, while younger nurses often have children or other family to worry about.

“Who can actually work and who feels safe working are limited by family obligations to protect their own health,” said Karen Donelan, professor of U.S. health policy at Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management. “All of those things have been factors.”...

 

 

[JKL33]

Well this is a case where there's certainly more to the story. The  underlying situation has zero to do with covid.

Experienced nurses in acute care, through the constant disparagement and other acts of downward "violence," were told to suck eggs starting a long time ago. Well, a good number of them found other things to do with themselves besides work in acute care. Now it turns out that hiring nearly all new grads has also been problematic in various ways.

Hospital corporations and their business managers have ruined the idea of acute care nursing. I have no sympathy for them for the idea that they are now struggling, regardless of the reason--even covid. They insisted on treating people utterly poorly as a rule of thumb and as a driving modus operandi in order to meet their goals. Their good days aren't even good any more; I'm not sure what they expected would happen when things became bad.

[NewRN'16, ADN, RN]

I work in subacute, but very experienced with trachs, wounds, IV meds/lines , etc I worked in a covid unit for quite a bit of time 

I am still at my old place , considering the numbers are going up , I will probably be floated to covid unit again. 

Stay safe everyone x ❤️