CHARLOTTE, N.C. — New research shows there is cause for concern when it comes to the nursing shortage, with nurses leaving the health care industry at an alarming rate.
It was a problem before the pandemic and health care leaders say it's only gotten worse due to the challenges COVID-19 presented. Those issues include burnout and safety concerns.
“The health care system just cannot exist without the nursing workforce,” Dennis Taylor with the North Carolina Nurses Association told WCNC Charlotte.
Unfortunately, that workforce is shrinking.
“We are burned out,” Diana Tejada-Pereda, a nurse with Novant Health said at the beginning of the year.
It’s not a new trend. As more and more nurses leave the job, others have to pick up extra hours, accelerating burnout and frustration, and eventually worsening the existing shortage.
“We cannot ignore this or continue to operate like nothing is wrong,” NCNA President Meka Douthit Ingram said. “These problems, unfortunately, feed into each other and exacerbate the situation. Warning signs have been flashing for a while and the longer it takes to address these systemic issues, the harder it will be to pull the profession out of this nosedive.”
Nearly half of the respondents said they’ve witnessed workplace violence in the last two years, and more than a quarter have been the victim. Many say the job has taken a toll on their mental health, and one says they have anxiety and panic attacks and don’t want to do this anymore.
“With burnout, if you look at it, one-third of them ranked burnout as an eight, nine or 10 on a 10-point scale," Taylor said. "It really does say a lot about the stress that nurses are feeling right now."
The NCNA is pushing the legislature to address these issues but knows it will be tough in the short term.
“There’s no quick fix to this,” Taylor said. “Unfortunately, even today if we fixed what the pipeline issue was, and that’s really nursing faculty and increasing the numbers of nursing faculty, it’s going to be at least three to five years down the road until we see some improvement in this.”
Several area hospitals are offering incentives and getting creative to help fill in the gaps.
Contact Chloe Leshner at cleshner@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.