MACON, Ga. — When you or someone in your family is sick, you want the best care. If you end up in the doctor's office or hospital, chances are one of the first health care professionals you'll meet is a nurse.
They're on the frontline in the battle to get you well, but the American Association of Colleges of Nursing says there is a shortage of registered nurses and it's only getting worse. Sabrina Burse found out how some hospitals try to bring life to the profession.
Some patients are in and out of the doors at Coliseum Medical Centers 24 hours a day. A registered nurse inside says as more and more people need treatment, not all hospitals have enough nurses to keep up.
Registered Nurse Paula Booker started caring for cardiac patients at Coliseum Medical Centers almost 20 years ago. It's a job that requires a lot of heart.
"When I was a child, my mother got sick. I kind of became her caregiver and I really enjoyed taking care of people and nurturing people, so I just made that my profession," said Booker.
But over the years, you'll find fewer and fewer registered nurses like Booker in hospitals and doctor's offices. The American Nurses Association says in 2022, there will be far more registered nurse jobs available than any other profession in the nation with more than 100,000 jobs coming on the market each year.
Chief nursing officer Bridget Denzik says there are many reasons for the shortage, but it begins in the classroom.
"Schools are not able to provide, typically, enough nursing instructors to meet the need," said Denzik.
That sentiment is shared with the Department Chair of Nursing at Middle Georgia State University, Donna Ingram, who says for every student enrolled in the nursing program, one student is turned away.
According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, another reason for the shortage is a large number of the current nurses are nearing retirement age.
Coliseum leaders say they sometimes fill open positions with contracted nurses, from across the country for weeks or months instead of full-time hires. Denzik says this is usually the case in specialty areas within the hospital. Booker says on her floor, RNs are typically responsible for five patients per shift.
"You have to have excellent organizational skills. Prioritizing, we usually go to who is the most sick or who is in the most need, and that's how I determine who I will see first," said Booker.
That one to five ratio is below the recommendation of National Nurses United, one of the largest associations of registered nurses. Their guidelines suggest one nurse for every four patients in medical and surgical units.
Booker says when the number of nurses at other hospitals don't add up, it's the quality of care that breaks down.
"I would think it's detrimental to patient care because you are burning people out," said Booker.
Denzik says as baby boomers retire, hospitals are losing those older more experienced nurses and continue gaining patients.
"We do have some international nurses however, that we had recruited and so we have a small number of them to helped fill those vacancies," said Denzik.
To recruit people to the profession, Coliseum works with college nursing programs at schools like Middle Georgia State University, Mercer University, and Wesleyan College. Denzik says the partnership with these schools helps the hospitals recruit students and in turn fight the shortage head on.
Until the number of nurses reach the demand, Booker says the shortage will always be a threat.
"Ultimately, it's all of us that suffer because at some point, I know that we are going to be a patient, so we've got to have some people at the bedside," said Booker.
The Medical Center Navicent Health officials say they've also taken steps to address the nursing shortage. They include offering tuition reimbursement programs and programs for high school students interested in nursing. They're also using a workforce management company called Flex Health, which basically helps them schedule and bring nurses from different areas to cover open shifts here.
The American Nurses Association says California is the only state that stipulates in law and regulation a required minimum nurse to patient ratios to be maintained at all times by unit. If you or someone you know is interested in becoming a registered nurse, Coliseum Medical Centers has a job fair on Feb. 28 at the Marriott Hotel on Coliseum Drive from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. No appointment is needed.
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