Shortage of nurses across the country and now in Abilene

The demand for nurses has always been high, but this year the shortage of nurses in the United States is greater than ever before and the impact is heavy. Dr. David Green, the Medical Director at Hendrick Health said, “Our staff is getting frustrated because what we see is the patients coming in this month, that they are a lot younger and they’re the kind of patients that if only they got vaccinated they wouldn’t be here on the ventilator in the ICU dying of the coronavirus.”

This frustration is ultimately from pressures caused by the pandemic and being understaffed. The American Nurses Association says by 2022, 3.4 million nurses will be needed and currently, the average age of the nurse workforce is 50 years old. This causes a strain on the medical profession as so many nurses are approaching the last stage of their working years. While many get ready to retire others quit due to burn out and the COVID-19 Pandemic makes this feat worse. “Please get your vaccinations don’t be another person coming to my ICU," said Dr. Green.

The Chief Nursing Officer, at Hendrick, Susan Greenwood, RN, also offered her statement, "Unfortunately, the need for nurses is a national issue that existed prior to the pandemic. Hendrick Health has been, and will continue to work diligently to recruit highly skilled nurses to our area... during the last COVID-19 surge, we received nursing support from the state. They have indicated this resource will not be available for the current surge. Early indicators of this surge appear to be on track for the same or higher level of hospital capacity.“

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