Burnout from COVID-19 is as prevalent as ever in hospitals across the country. One Northeast Arkansas hospital is turning to man’s best friend for relief.
At St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro, a few friendly faces are helping nurses and patients alike. Initially designed for patients, the therapy animal program has bled over into the world of nursing as well.
“It’s cheering them up and keeping their mind off their problems. It’s releasing some stress,” said Mark Holden, stroke coordinator at St. Bernards. “It really helps them a lot.”
It was up to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Rochelle Walensky to sort out a crucial question: which Americans should be the first to get COVID-19 booster shots.
And there was little consensus.
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice on Thursday voted narrowly to restrict eligibility for boosters of the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE shot authorized by the Food and Drug Administration. Walensky had a choice: side with the advisers, citing the paucity of data on whether younger, vaccinated adults are truly at risk of severe breakthrough cases of COVID-19. Or overrule them, and err on the side of boosters for front-line health workers and others.
For a year, nurses at Morton Hospital have warned administrators of safety concerns, said Jacqueline Fitts, a registered nurse at the hospital.
The Tuesday stabbing of a Morton Hospital worker, while apparently a random act by a woman whose family says she is suffering from mental illness, has renewed those worries.
"Employees should be protected," said Fitts, who currently works the night shift. "We're very concerned about the security situation."
NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Dr. Randy Tobler, CEO of Scotland County Hospital in Memphis, Missouri, about COVID cases and staffing shortages at his facility.
The nurses’ strike at Saint Vincent Hospital reached 200 days on Thursday. It’s the latest milestone of a work stoppage that officially began on March 8 with nurses bundled up in frigid temperatures. Summer has come and gone and the work stoppage has become the longest nurses’ strike in the history of the state.
The grievances go back to 2020, though, and have evolved since.
Staffing problems at some health facilities could worsen if vaccine requirements for travel nurses continue.
That’s according to staffing agency Dakota Travel Nurses, a major supplier of nurses to facilities across North Dakota.
As COVID-19 cases continue to surge in the state, the demand for healthcare workers — particularly nurses — is also climbing, but meeting this demand is proving difficult because of vaccine requirements.