Crosscut Now
Jan. 11, 2022 - WA hospitals struggle with nursing shortages
1/11/2022 | 1m 15sVideo has Closed Captions
Washington hospitals are struggling to keep ahead of nursing shortages.
Nurses say the changes that would make them stay on staff — retention bonuses, compensation to work extra shifts, guaranteed rest breaks — have yet to be meaningfully implemented.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Crosscut Now is a local public television program presented by Cascade PBS
Crosscut Now
Jan. 11, 2022 - WA hospitals struggle with nursing shortages
1/11/2022 | 1m 15sVideo has Closed Captions
Nurses say the changes that would make them stay on staff — retention bonuses, compensation to work extra shifts, guaranteed rest breaks — have yet to be meaningfully implemented.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Washington hospitals are struggling to keep ahead of nursing shortages.
Across the country and the state, nurses are quitting, often for better paying jobs as travel nurses, who work on short term contracts.
Only 2% of the state's healthcare workers have left their jobs after refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Those departures have disproportionately impacted rural hospitals.
This can be especially challenging for the nurses who still work in those hospitals.
Paul Fuller is one of them.
Before he became a critical care nurse in Wenatchee, he was an army medic.
He sees similarities between his deployment in Iraq and his experience as a nurse during a pandemic.
Nurses say the changes that would make them stay on staff, like retention bonuses, compensation to work extra shifts, and guaranteed rest breaks, have yet to be meaningfully implemented.
I'm Starla Sampaco.
Find nonprofit Northwest news every day on crosscut.com.
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Crosscut Now is a local public television program presented by Cascade PBS