Hospitals Deal With Nursing Shortage

In the Permian Basin there is already a 16 % vacancy rate for nurses and all hospitals are feeling it.

Medical Center Hospital RN Carol Cates said: "I'm actually working an extra shift today."

Like many other hospitals, Medical Center in Odessa is feeling the pinch of a nurse shortage.

Chief Nursing Officer at Medical Center Hospital Marlene Mcallister said: "Anytime there is an economic boom many nurses don't have to work or they may not have to work as many hours."

Mcalister says on top of that, many nurses are quickly reaching retirement age all at the same time.

"I can probably name you on this floor alone not just in this ICU 3 to 4 people who are working extra today to help out."

Carol Cates is one of the nurses who left six years ago but she's the exception to the rule.

On July 4th she returned to her post at Medical Center Hospital.

She said: "We really go out of our way to work together so that the patients don't see that shortage."

It's apparently been working.

One ICU patient said: "They've been right there every minute. I've never had to wait but maybe a minute."

Now Medical Center is putting great effort in recruiting the next generation of nurses.

"There are tons of nurses who have been here 20-30 years and there is a reason for that' it's a family."

For Cates, it's her dream job.

"I love being a nurse it's what gets me up every morning."

According to Marlene McAlester, who is also the regional chair of the health careers consortium, most all hospitals in this region are experiencing the same shortage.

That's why she says the nursing field is wide open and hospitals are willing to pay big bucks to attract the health professionals of tomorrow.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Nurse
• Shortage
• Medical
• Center
• Hospital
• Carol
• Cates
• Marlene
• McAllister

[hypemuch]

The nursing shortage is a myth. If there is a shortage why haven't I found a job yet. Maybe there is a shortage of people hiring them.

[phlebotomistrock]

for the nurses outhere that looking for jobs...i ecommended if you start looking at home care nurses..its easier to get hired and the start at 35 dollars.

[fornow100000]

truth about nurses: the profession has so called horizontal violence which means nurses treat each other very bad. They are the worse kind of raging bitches (excuse my language) you will ever come across as a human being. The next kind are black women. The are the two most miserable kinds of women out there. Just stating the facts. Dont pick the professional unless you want to join the viciousness.

[magickunderpants]

I have a BSN no job I graduated 6 months ago from a highly ranked program in a major city.

[echaru]

Saying there's shortage for nursing is like saying Santa Claus is real!

It is true that there's no more job for nurse. I've been trying to find nursing job for months w/ my bachelor in nursing, RN license, BLS certification, and 2 yr Med/sur experience. Yes I am still unemployed.