Nurses who want union representation at UW Hospital and Clinics amped up their campaign this week, meeting online with Gov. Tony Evers as the governor reiterated his support for their cause.
The COVID-19 pandemic "has really underscored how critical your roles are in keeping our state healthy," Evers told several hundred UW Health nurses and some of their allies who took part in a Zoom meeting with the governor Wednesday evening. "But it also illustrated how necessary it is for essential workers to be represented in their workplace. Workers, especially our nurses who have sacrificed so much, deserve the opportunity to organize and have a say in the workplace."
Before Mary Venus was offered a nursing job at a hospital in Billings, Mont., she'd never heard of Billings or visited the United States.
A native of the Philippines, she researched her prospective move via the internet, set aside her angst about the cold Montana winters and took the job, sight unseen.
One nonprofit serving Hays County wants to help fill the need for more health care workers, and for them, it all starts with language.
Community Action of Central Texas said hospitals and health care facilities across Hays County are in need of nurses and nurse aides. It said some people its staff already works with are qualified for the job but don’t speak fluent English.
Vermont's nursing shortage has reached a critical point amid the pandemic, requiring new funding proposals to recruit and train additional health care workers, state and federal leaders warned.
The urgency of the state's nursing gap prompted a joint news conference this week by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent, alongside Republican Gov. Phil Scot and state Senate President Pro Tem Becca Balint, a Democrat.
The Geary Community Hospital in Junction City, Kansas will lose its intensive care unit in the near future due to a myriad of pandemic-related issues, a spokesperson announced Monday.
Director of Human Resources LJ Baker said the ICU unit in the hospital will shut down no later than Feb. 1, 2022. The closure is due to an "exacerbated COVID-19 nursing shortage, as well as fiscal situations beyond [their] control."