Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Swamped hospitals scramble for pandemic help
OMAHA, NEB. » U. S. hospitals slammed with COVID19 patients are trying to lure nurses and doctors out of retirement, recruiting students and newgraduates who have yet to earn their licenses and offering eye- popping salaries in a desperate bid to ease staffing shortages.
With the virus surging from coast to coast, the number of patients in the hospital with the virus has more than doubled over the pastmonth to a recordhigh of nearly 100,000, pushing medical centers and health care workers to the breaking point. Nurses are increasingly burned out and getting sick on the job, and the stress on the nation’s medical systemprompted a dire warning fromthe head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The reality is December and January and February are going to be rough times. I actually believe they are going to be the most difficult time in the public health history of this nation,” Dr. Robert Redfield said.
Governors in hard- hit states like Wisconsin and Nebraska are making it easier for retired nurses to come back, including by waiving licensing requirements and fees, though it canbe a tough sell for older nurses, who would be in more danger than many of their colleagues if they contracted the virus.
Some are taking jobs that don’t involve working directly with patients to free up front- line nurses, McMillan said.
Iowa is allowing temporary, emergency licenses for new nurses who have met the state’s educational requirements but haven’t yet taken the state licensing exam. Some Minnesota hospitals are offering winter internships to nursing students to boost their staffs. The internships are typically offered in the summer but were canceled this year because of COVID- 19.
Methodist Hospital in Minneapolis will place 25 interns for one to two months to work with COVID19 patients, though certain tasks will remain offlimits, such as inserting IVs or urinary catheters, said TinaKvalheim, anursewho runs the program.
“They’ll be fully supported in their roles so that our patients receive the best possible, safe care,” Kvalheim said.
Hospitals also are turning to nurses who travel from state to state. But that’s expensive because hospitals around the country are competing for them, driving salaries as high as $ 6,200 per week, according to postings for travel nursing jobs.
Doctors are in demand, too.
“I don’t even practice anymore, and I’ve gotten lots of emails asking me to travel across the country to work in ERs,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association.
The outbreak in the U. S. is blamed for more than 270,000 deaths and 13.8 million confirmed infections. New cases are running at over 160,000 a day on average, and deaths are up to more than 1,500 a day, a level seen in May, during the crisis in theNew York City area.