(ST. LOUIS) As hospital admissions near record levels, there's another concern, an ongoing nursing shortage.
KMOX's Maria Keena talked with the interim Dean of University of Missouri St. Louis' College of Nursing
The nursing shortage is not new, Dean Roxanne Vandermause says it was a problem pre-pandemic. "We have rising numbers of aging educators and nurses and we have limited opportunities for clinical experiences in some areas of the country, increased needs in terms of chronic disease, and acuity in hospitals."
Vandermause says nurses have stepped up to respond to the pandemic. "And have not only come out of retirement, but have increased hours, gone from part time to full time." Some nurses have taken time off to raise their families, but have recognized the need to "go back in."
As to why there's a shortage of nurses. Vandermause attributes it to a changing health care system, increasing pressures, higher numbers of acuity of illnesses, requiring more nurses.
Many nurses were educated in the 1960's, 70's and 80's, and many of them are now reaching retirement, or have already retired.
Vandermause says the need for nurses is visible when the news shows "the many health care providers who are comforting patients, particularly during this pandemic." She adds we are seeing examples all the time, "nurses who are holding the hands of patients who are very very ill, or dying, and their families can't be with them, those are the times we see the actual acts of nursing at their finest."
Vandermause says "think we're always trying to recruit nurses, in our college for instance, we're recruiting for our educational programs all the time." Vandermause says " the visibility of nurses and health care providers during this pandemic has stimulated some young or adult professionals to consider nursing as a profession."
As for people who may not believe the pandemic is as critical as it is Vandermause says, "it's hard for people to recognize the threat if they do not see or experience loved ones or neighbors suffering or dying from the disease." While some people may have mild or no symptoms after contracting Covid 19 , there are those who contract it and are "very very sick and are worried about long term sequela. following the disease." Sequela is a term used to describe an aftereffect of a disease.
Vandermause says "we certainly know as nurses , we are hearing from our colleagues in the hospitals that the hospital units are filling. And when I hear my colleagues at hospitals saying that they are looking for nurses to work overtime, that they're rearranging in their units so that they have areas where they can more efficiently care for Covid patients. When they need to stop admitting patients for what we might call lesser conditions, so that they can have room for the Covid patients coming in, then I known that things are serious."
