WISCONSIN (NBC 26) — As the COVID pandemic has put a strain on health care systems nationwide, nursing staffing shortages are a concern for many areas, including right here in Northeast Wisconsin.
“We are experiencing I would say some challenges when it comes to staffing, especially in our nursing area. As well as I would say some physician shortages across not only here in our local area but also nationally across the U.S.,” said Laura Hieb, Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President at Bellin Health.
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And with COVID cases continuing to rise with the more contagious Delta variant, health care systems have to monitor the ever-changing situation to ensure they can care for the communities they serve.
“Volumes haven’t necessarily slowed down for us, so our clinicians that are out on the frontline have very busy days. They are absolutely caring for a caseload,” Hieb said. “Nurses went through a lot this past year and continues to be something that they go through daily. We saw our COVID volumes increase here locally last November especially and then they kind of went down a little bit. But they’re definitely on an upward trend. And as the teams are caring for those individuals battling COVID, they’re also taking care of the rest of our community. So they have not had a break. So for some of those who have been on the front line this whole entire time, it takes its toll.”
As a result of the increased demand, Hieb says Bellin Health has had to rely a little more on temporary staffing and other agencies to help meet the demand.
“Historically, this is not a system that Bellin had to use. We never used traveler nurses prior to the pandemic, but in the pandemic and then as we continue to navigate and coexist with COVID, we are seeing that need to bring in more agency staff to help us meet the needs of our community,” Hieb said.
She emphasized that the need for nurses ranges across the spectrum.
“We have needs here in the acute care environment for the emergency room, our general medical surgical types of nurses, surgery nurses that’s a big need. As well as in the ambulatory world, out in our clinics and as we try to deal with this pandemic we want to be able to meet the needs of those in the community,” Hieb said.
So what could be some reasons contributing to this shortage? Hieb explains:
“What we see I think locally is that there are nurses who are choosing in some cases to retire. Maybe there are nurses out there who didn’t have to work as many hours and didn’t find it was necessary. So as they’ve navigated the pandemic and realized how important family and the ability to be with their loved ones is, they may choose to say ‘you know what I think I may choose to retire now,” Hieb said.
In an effort to attract more nurses and other healthcare workers, Bellin Health has been promoting incentives to get more people into the workforce.
“Here personally at Bellin, we have different sign-on bonuses that are out there. And as I mentioned we are also looking for adaptable, flexible schedules that help meet the need of individuals that are interested in healthcare. We also have referral bonuses where if you know people in healthcare and can bring them into the organization there can be some bonuses that way,” Hieb said.
She says Bellin Health also does what they can to have fair and competitive wages for employees, in addition to a cultural environment where people can thrive.
NBC 26 also reached to ThedaCare to see how this nationwide nurse shortage was affecting them.
In part of a statement they released to us, they said the following:
“During this time of workplace shortages nationally, ThedaCare, like nearly all health care systems, is not immune to these challenges. Through our ability to quickly adjust our plans to provide care, one option includes potentially redeploying team members to critical care areas. As with previous surge situations, this will be a fluid process and one where we ask team members to be available as we work through this as a team. Throughout this time ThedaCare has, and continues to be committed to our team members, with no layoffs or furloughs.
Currently, ThedaCare is also accepting applications for RNs, CNAs, as well as non-patient facing roles such as environmental services and dining services. We are also reviewing contracts for additional temporary resources through other resources and partners, including the Wisconsin Emergency Assistance Volunteer Registry. Our outreach to increase staffing directly aligns with modeling of increasing cases over the next several weeks.”
NBC 26 also received a statement from HSHS Wisconsin who said the following:
“COVID-19, and now the Delta variant, continue to put a strain on health care systems everywhere and staffing shortages are a concern for many at this time. HSHS hospitals in Wisconsin are able to maintain staffing needs at this time through a variety of solutions including utilizing staff from HSHS sister hospitals in the region. HSHS hospitals in Wisconsin are also actively recruiting for nurses and a variety of support positions at this time. As we dedicate our time and resources to caring for all who come through our doors – those suffering from COVID-19 or any other health concern in which our hospitals’ services are needed – we are pleading with our communities to get vaccinated, wear a mask and do their part to put an end to this pandemic.”
NBC 26 reached out to the nursing program at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC) to get a feel for the next generation of nurses.
“We are well aware that there is a nursing shortage in our community. There has been for a while so we have certainly been trying to make a lot of effort into making sure our nursing enrollment has been steady and overall I would say there are,” said Cindy Theys, NWTC Associate Dean of Health Sciences & Education.
Theys says that throughout the pandemic, she has seen a growing group of students coming into the nursing program with passion and drive.
“I think there are some people looking at the pandemic and saying ‘how can I help, what can I do’ and I think it’s those people who really want to help it's driving them into nursing, which that’s a good thing. Because then they’re coming with passion and it takes passion to be a good nurse,” Theys said. “We’re going to do all we can absolutely to get graduates prepared and out in the workforce, but our program is two years. We can’t change that. They still need to go through our program, pass their state licensing exam, and get out and get employed. We’re going to do everything we can to help them do that and have those milestone achievements but it still does take the time."
Theys also goes on to say that while she hasn’t seen the pandemic really alter enrollment for nursing students, she says she is currently seeing other things that are.
“What we are seeing right now is that the requirement for the vaccine is. We have potential to lose some current students with the mandatory vaccine requirement,” Theys said.
She says clinical partners are adopting policies requiring all students and instructors at their clinical sites to receive the COVID-19 vaccination and because nursing students are in the academic program that utilizes these sites, they must abide by the policies of their clinical partners and require those students to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.
“And it’s not just nursing, because it's going to be any student that does clinical out in healthcare facilities where the vaccine is now mandatory for their employees, they’re making that mandatory for students,” Theys said.
If a student denies vaccination, it will impact a student’s ability to complete their program requirements, resulting in a delay of clinical coursework and/or an inability to graduate with a degree or credential.
“Not a lot, just a handful, but in the end, a handful can add up,” Theys said referring to the number of nursing students the vaccine mandate could directly affect.
In the meantime, NWTC says the school is continuing on its recruitment efforts for more nursing students.
“We’re really trying to do what we can do, we’re continuing to try to do open houses and quick starts sort of events, all of our recruitment efforts, that department works very hard to help us maintain our enrollments,” Theys said. “If we find a way to add capacity, take more students, definitely we’ll do that. And our clinical partners know that and they also do whatever they can to help us try and get more clinical groups on their site. They know if they can help us, we can help them and it really becomes a partnership.”
