‘You feel like you’re in a war zone’: Nurse shortage worse than ever due to COVID-19 pandemic
Hospitals have been plagued for decades by a nurse shortage, but the COVID-19 pandemic caused many qualified nurses to leave the profession. Author: Kaila Lafferty (KING5) Updated: 8:29 AM PDT May 10, 2021
SEATTLE There has been a shortage of qualified nurses for decades, and the Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) believes the shortage is not coming to an end anytime soon.
“We do expect the shortage to continue to grow and be more substantial over the coming future,” said Darcy Jaffe, the vice president of safety and quality at the WSHA.
May 6, 2021 at 1:02 pm
Personnel eat in the cafeteria at Harborview Medical Center on Nov. 26, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)
Washington has seen an increase in hospitalizations for COVID-19 across the state, though there could be hope on the horizon that a fourth wave that’s already started can still be turned around.
“We have definitely seen an increase in hospitalizations across the state, which is very worrisome,” said Cassie Sauer, president and CEO of the Washington State Hospital Association. “We had actually bee having hospitalizations decline pretty significantly, and were down to about 350 people hospitalized. And that was pretty steady for about five or six weeks throughout the end of February and March and early April. And then suddenly we start to see a pretty fast increase in the number of folks hospitalized, up to more than 600 people hospitalized at a time, so that’s been a really big concern for us.
The Washington State Department of Health clears up confusion about the seriousness of current pandemic efforts. Author: Steve Soliz Updated: 11:15 PM PDT May 5, 2021
The state of Washington is in the midst of its fourth wave of COVID-19 cases. That fact was made clear by Gov. Jay Inslee Tuesday when he announced a temporary pause in Healthy Washington, the state’s reopening plan.
“For the past several weeks, epidemiologists have observed a fourth wave developing of COVID,” Inslee said. “The most recent data that has come in just the last few days, including what DOH has observed over the weekend, shows a potential plateauing of the COVID activity in the state of Washington, which obviously is good news”
The Washington State Department of Health clears up confusion about the seriousness of current pandemic efforts. Author: Steve Soliz Updated: 9:37 PM PDT May 5, 2021
The state of Washington is in the midst of its fourth wave of COVID-19 cases. That fact was made clear by Gov. Jay Inslee Tuesday when he announced a temporary pause in Healthy Washington, the state’s reopening plan.
“For the past several weeks, epidemiologists have observed a fourth wave developing of COVID,” Inslee said. “The most recent data that has come in just the last few days, including what DOH has observed over the weekend, shows a potential plateauing of the COVID activity in the state of Washington, which obviously is good news”
Colorado could be one of the first states in the U.S. to create what’s being called a “public option” for health insurance so advocates and opponents are looking closely at the only state so far to try this new model: Washington.