Business Trends | Health Care
to area hospitals. But the plan is contingent on hiring two new nursing instructors. “We are searching right now,” PVCC
President Frank Friedman says. “It is very difficult to find qualified nursing faculty.” He also notes that while PVCC typically receives 250 to 300 applications for its 100 nursing spots, the pandemic may have an impact on student interest. “We have seen some current students withdraw from our program out of fear,” he notes. “They don’t want to work in a hospital. They are afraid to expose themselves to COVID. We [also] had about seven individuals withdraw this semester because vaccinations are mandatory” at area hospitals. Apple, Shepherd and others say that in order to attract and retain nurses, employers need to offer more professional respect, increased mental health support and decreased nurse-to-patient ratios. While many hospitals are adding mental health resources and experimenting with more flexible scheduling, Horton admits that compensation is a challenge. In October, UVA Medical Center announced that the health system would commit more than $30 million during the 2022 fiscal year to increase compensation and make market pay adjustments for much of its workforce. Dorrie Fontaine, former dean of the
U.Va. School of Nursing, says she has been getting calls from many hospitals, asking her to talk to their staff about managing stress and anxiety. She recently published a book, “Self Care for New and Student Nurses.”
“Self-care is great,” she says, but hospitals can greatly help their recruitment and retention efforts by ensuring that nurses are supported with adequate staffing and appropriate recognition for the work they do. “Until you have hospital systems who treat nurses with the respect and dignity they deserve, all the yoga in the world is not going to be enough.” Apple also worries that the current stresses on nurses will have long-lasting impacts on the health care workforce if these professionals aren’t better supported with adequate staffing and appropriate recognition for the work they do. “We didn’t sign up to be soldiers. We are caretakers,” she says. “We have found our- selves on a battlefield, and we need help.” ■
48 | NOVEMBER 2021
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