The Nurse Shortage
Roy Wenzl of The Wichita Eagle has written a nice two-part report on how the nationwide shortage of nurses is affecting a local health-care provider, the Via Christi Wichita Health Network. The first part, "Health Care's Looming Crisis: A Need for Nurses," describes the problems that arise when nursing staffs are stretched too thin.
Paul Harrison, a surgeon who directs trauma care at Wesley and serves on its board of trustees, said the shortage of nurses, and of doctors, has made the practice of medicine more demanding.
Acute care teams have so much turnover that they are always training new people, he said.
"A hospital may have an empty bed, but if it doesn't have a nurse to staff it, that bed doesn't exist," he said.
Nurses are stressed, especially in acute care units. "Some of them say they are nearing the end of their rope," Harrison said.
Wenzl's second part, "Hospitals Tackle Nurse Shortage in Creative Ways," tells how Via Christi chief nursing officer Saad Ehtisham is working to relieve the shortage.
… When nursing schools including Wichita State University's told him they needed more clinic time at Via Christi hospitals to train student nurses, Ehtisham allotted more time on nights and weekends.
He found money for nurses to earn night, weekend, and wintertime bonus pay. He found a way to bring back some nurses who left to start families, offering slots where they could work only a few hours a week if that's what they want….
He used the IV therapy specialist model to find ways to hire new positions to augment nursing care without hiring new nurses. For example, he expanded the "hospitality" team, a specialist team of non-nurses. They help by filling water glasses, distributing meals and answering call lines, leaving nurses more time for medical tasks.
http://www.kansas.com/news/story/455583.html
http://www.kansas.com/news/story/456300.html