That, I don't know. Since we've been together, prior to COVID, I never recall her mentioning they had trouble getting nurses. If there was a particularly busy night, the nurse manager had a number of nurses on-call who would then come in to staff beds. Now, that's impossible. They're not there. On top of that, the nursing staff calls out sick far more often now than before.
Are these difficulties because there are fewer nurses on the market, the existing staff are burned out, there are better opportunities to work locums, or some other factor? Not sure. Mostly, it's to say that there was never a conversation between us on the lack of nurses prior to COVID.
As far as physicians, also not sure. I will say that demand was consistent prior to COVID, but now demand for both temporary and permanent positions is extremely high. They won't stop calling. Something to understand here is that the supply of new critical care physicians takes a very long time to ramp up, four years of medical school, four years of residency, and two years of fellowship. They're not easy to replace.
As a final side note, whether they do or not, they would all like to quit. They're burned out. This has gone on too long. The families dealing with end of life care are often abusive. Virtually all of their patients are unvaccinated, which means that this is preventable. They're frustrated that their professional opinion has very little impact on the public discussion of COVID, especially when they deal with the issue so intimately and they spent a good portion of their life dedicated to understanding and treating the issues behind illness.
Are these difficulties because there are fewer nurses on the market, the existing staff are burned out, there are better opportunities to work locums, or some other factor? Not sure. Mostly, it's to say that there was never a conversation between us on the lack of nurses prior to COVID.
As far as physicians, also not sure. I will say that demand was consistent prior to COVID, but now demand for both temporary and permanent positions is extremely high. They won't stop calling. Something to understand here is that the supply of new critical care physicians takes a very long time to ramp up, four years of medical school, four years of residency, and two years of fellowship. They're not easy to replace.
As a final side note, whether they do or not, they would all like to quit. They're burned out. This has gone on too long. The families dealing with end of life care are often abusive. Virtually all of their patients are unvaccinated, which means that this is preventable. They're frustrated that their professional opinion has very little impact on the public discussion of COVID, especially when they deal with the issue so intimately and they spent a good portion of their life dedicated to understanding and treating the issues behind illness.