Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

42 NURSING SPOTLIGHT When a nursing shortage and COVID-19 collide: How 4 CNOs are responding By Erica Carbajal and Gabrielle Masson A sk any nursing leader about their greatest challenge and they'll likely point to staffing. If hospitals weren't already feeling the effects of a severe nursing shortage, a nationwide rise in hospital- izations fueled by the highly contagious COVID-19 delta variant has made the effects of it unmistakable. For many clinicians still coping from the ini- tial waves of the pandemic, the current surge instills a deep brand of exhaustion. ey've seen this before. Except this time, many of the critically ill patients they're treating are unvaccinated, provoking newfound emotions such as anger and frustration. As a result, it's become harder for hospitals to incentivize and recruit nurses. e American Nurses Association estimates that more than 500,000 nurses plan to retire by 2022. To supplement retirees and expansion, more than 1.1 million new RNs will be needed, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects. But under current circumstances, it's difficult for nursing leaders to imagine how we'll get there. Becker's spoke to four chief nursing officers about how their hospitals are coping with the unprecedented workforce shortage, and what should be done to help remedy the deficit. A glimpse of the shortage At the same time COVID-19 cases are surg- ing, Midland (Texas) Memorial Hospital has a 30 percent vacancy rate for nursing positions. "In good times, we'd see probably about 10 to 15 percent, so [the vacancy rate is] about double what we would normally experience at this time," said Kit Bredimus, DNP, RN, CNO at Midland Memorial. Meanwhile, at UCSF Health in San Fran- cisco, there are about 200 open nursing positions across the 1,000-bed system, CNO Pat Patton, DNP, RN, told Becker's. "One of the changes we've had to make is to hire just a lot more travelers just to keep up and have staffing, and stay within state mandated ratios," Dr. Patton said. e same is true back at Midland Memorial Hospital, where about 20 percent of the front-line nursing staff are travel or contract nurses, Dr. Bredimus said. Turning to travel nurse agencies, however, is an unsustainable solution that still leaves hos- pitals competing for the same pool of nurses. "e high demand for staff across the na- tion led to competition which made staffing both challenging with costly premiums at a time when hospitals were losing money," said Beth Oliver, DNP, RN, chief nurse executive and senior vice president of cardiac services at New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System. "Adding to the nursing staffing shortage is the fact that many nurses re-examined their priorities and transferred from inpatient to ambu- latory settings within the organization, or relocated closer to their family to avoid Virginia Mason Franciscan Health to pay $5.5M settlement in nurse class-action suit By Gabrielle Masson A Washington healthcare system will pay $5.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit in which thousands of nurses claim they weren't properly paid for lunch and other breaks, The Kitsap Sun reported July 19. Virginia Mason Franciscan Health — the byproduct of an official merger between Tacoma, Wash.-based CHI Fran- ciscan and Seattle-based Virginia Mason — was accused of violating the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and Washington state law. The case, brought by Hana Etch- everry, RN, a nurse at the former Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton, Wash., alleged nurses who worked shifts of 12 hours or more, "experience significant amounts of pre- and post-shift off-the-clock work, including unpaid, on-duty time preparing for their days before clocking in as well as completing charting and patient paperwork after clocking out." The lawsuit included more than 7,000 employees claiming nurses "cannot take timely, full, off-duty meal and rest periods, due to a lack of break relief and their required adherence to their ethical responsibilities to remain responsible for patient care at all times through- out their shifts." The average payment a nurse will receive from the settle- ment is $510, reported The Kitsap Sun. "Virginia Mason Franciscan Health is committed to the fair compensation of our employees," Cary Evans, vice presi- dent of communications and government affairs, said in a statement cited by The Kitsap Sun. The system is currently in the process of notifying staff about the settlement. "We strongly deny that we have violated any wage and hour laws," Mr. Evans said. "However, we believe the best use of our resources is to move forward and focus on providing top-quality patient care, rather than further extending a costly and time-consuming legal case." Carolyn Cottrell, an attorney representing the nurses, didn't respond to The Kitsap Sun's requests for comment. n

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