Hospitals grapple with nurse shortages
By RACHEL MCCRARY, ANNA MUCKENFUSS
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Michigan, USA (WNEM) — As the fourth wave of the pandemic hammers the country, healthcare workers are worn out and frustrated.
“Nurses are leaving the profession,” said Jamie Brown, a nurse, and president of the Michigan Nurses Association.
Too many patients at once. Too many hours working in a row; these are just a few of the reasons why Brown believes nurses are leaving their posts in hospitals.
“We are burned out, we are tired of being short. We’re tired of the disrespect healthcare corporations are showing us,” Brown said.
Brown said during the pandemic nurses she knew left the field altogether to pursue other careers.
“Because the workforce of the hospital the problem is the patients aren’t going to be taken care of if we don’t have the nurse is there to take care of them properly,” Brown said.
She said this can really impact your care if you ever end up in the hospital.
“There’s research out there that shows your chance of an adverse outcome when the nurse has over for patient in the hospital increases by 2% for every patient above the 4,” Brown said.
But there is a silver lining, Brown said they are working on legislation that would limit the number of patients a nurse can have at one time to 4 people. She said this would drive nurses back to hospitals.
“We’re hoping to get it into committee by September. I heard they are going to hear it then hopefully. But we had partisan support more than we’ve ever had before,” Brown said.
Michigan Hospital and Health Association CEO Brian Peters said that the organization is committed to working with nurses to improve retention rates, but it does not support legislation that would institute staffing ratios.
“The one-size-fits-all approach inherent in legislatively mandated decisions impacting clinical care typically fails to recognize the complexity of patient care and the diversity of healthcare environments,” Peters said. “Studies have shown that nurse education and training — rather than a one-size-fits-all approach like mandatory nurse staffing ratios — are the most important factors when it comes to ensuring the delivery of high-quality patient care.”
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