We’ve entered a new season of concern with the looming pandemic as cases steadily rise.
This “second wave” serves as a reminder of the work our frontliners are doing to serve and protect our communities.
Hospitalizations are on the rise, and hospitals and healthcare facilities are scrambling to find enough well qualified nursing staff to help meet the needs of their communities.
This is especially true in smaller hospitals and within rural communities, which are home to more than 46 million Americans, or 15% of the U.S. population, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.
As a whole, Bartholomew County is 34% rural and many of Columbus’ surrounding areas look to Columbus Regional Health (CRH) for care beyond basic health needs. In early November, before cases spiked drastically, the hospital was already at 85% capacity.
The need for nurses also comes as a result of the pandemic exacerbating burnout among healthcare workers — a condition not limited to urban or rural communities but that is in addition to the 63% of primary healthcare shortages currently existing in rural communities.
Understaffing causes increased workloads, longer shifts and less flexibility in scheduling, all adding an undeniable amount of extra weight on our healthcare workers’ shoulders who are already carrying so much as a result of the novel coronavirus.
More than 100 CRH employees have tested positive for COVID-19 over the course of the pandemic, likely snowballing into additional shortages as positive and exposed staff are forced to quarantine.
What’s more, one-third of the nursing workforce in the U.S. will reach retirement age in the next 10-15 years, potentially creating a larger shortage in the future.
Maintaining and growing the healthcare workforce is fundamental to providing access to quality healthcare in rural areas. This also helps balance out the distribution of care.
Rural healthcare facilities need a way to retain the nurses they have while still providing upward career paths and new opportunities. Currently, healthcare and nursing education systems are primarily located in larger cities and few provide exposure to rural practice environments. It’s also common for these urban-centric programs to pull students away from their rural homes in order to pursue their nursing education and career placement.
Traditional higher education programs are often limited or entirely unavailable within rural communities.
We must find new ways to extend higher education outside of urban-centric areas and support healthcare access in all communities across the state.
WGU Indiana’s online, competency-based model allows us to support hundreds of current nursing students in undergraduate and graduate programs in rural communities throughout Indiana. We are well positioned to bring new opportunities into more communities quickly based on projected workforce needs.
This accessibility directly supports rural hospitals and helps healthcare facilities recruit and retain nurses within their community and surrounding areas.
Providing in-place opportunities for nursing education is one vital means of meeting this need. Our communities rely on access to healthcare to keep them safe and healthy, and it starts with higher education and commitment to economic and workforce development across all of our communities.
Pandemic aside, we must remain aware of the critical need for our frontline workers and find ways to attract and retain healthcare workforces in hospitals of all sizes.
And, that’s not all. We must also ensure that those who take care of us are taken care of too. At this critical time, I am urging leadership at all levels — healthcare, higher education, government — to dedicate efforts toward supporting our healthcare system and ensuring all hospitals and healthcare facilities can serve their communities through this pandemic and beyond.
Mary Carney DNP, RN-BC, CCRN, CNE, has nearly four decades of healthcare experience and is the state director of prelicensure nursing-Indiana of WGU Indiana, a nonprofit, online university offering. Send comments to [email protected].
