UPMC Hamot hopes that Renee Yosten will be part of its long-term solution to the chronic shortage of nurses.
Yosten, 37, is manager of transportation services at the Erie hospital but will soon leave her job to become a student at Hamot s new nursing school. It was so difficult to tell my boss, Yosten said. She let out an expletive, then sighed and said, You re going to be a great nurse.
Hamot and hospitals across the country are in need of great nurses as more of the Baby Boom-generation of nurses approach retirement age each year.
The average age of an employed registered nurse increased from 42.7 in 2000 to 47.9 in 2018, according to a U.S. Department of Health & Human Services nursing survey.
A sea of empty, socially distant chairs surrounded Mariann McGuire, R.N., in the recovery area of the Bayfront Convention Center s COVID-19 vaccination clinic.
The clinic s first patients of the day were getting vaccinated, so McGuire had a few moments to train the newest member of the Erie Regional Medical Reserve Corps, Amy Root, L.P.N. When I greet people, I look at my watch to check the time, McGuire told Root on April 6. They need to stay 15 minutes after their vaccination and there isn t a big clock in here.
McGuire, a 63-year-old Harborcreek Township resident, has only been a member of the Erie Regional MRC for two months, but 43 years of nursing experience has a way of showing itself.
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David Bruce: COVID-19 vaccine scams remain a problem
Getting a COVID-19 vaccine is becoming easier, for some people, in Erie County.
Additional large-scale vaccination clinics are being held as the county s vaccine providers are finally getting more doses delivered.
But the Federal Trade Commission and other government agencies are reporting there is also an increase in vaccine-related scams. It appears criminals are taking advantage of people s desire to get vaccinated, and their isolation, to steal money or their identity.
Scammers are promising early access to vaccination sites, for a price, or even to ship COVID-19 vaccine directly to you. Of course, the clinics don t exist and real vaccine is never delivered to your house.
The county also reported 141 new cases Nov. 4-6.
Local health officials aren t sure whether this means the county is near the end of a nearly yearlong pandemic, or just experiencing a reprieve.
The county is still averaging nearly 54 new cases a day over the past week, higher than the totals at any time before mid-November, said Howard Nadworny, M.D., a Saint Vincent Hospital infectious diseases specialist and adviser to the Erie County Department of Health. Given that there were no major holidays in January and February, and February was colder and snowier, I suspect more people were masking and distancing (i.e. fewer