DENVER — Even as COVID cases drop, the staffing challenges hospitals are facing continue.
Many Colorado hospitals are each trying to hire hundreds of nurses right now as they aim to fill the positions of people who left during the pandemic.
"I cannot overemphasize the impact the pandemic has had on nurse staffing," Katherine Howell, Chief Nurse Executive at UCHealth, said. "This nursing shortage was happening prior to the pandemic. The pandemic just accelerated it, and it’s not because of the requirement for the vaccine."
Howell said there are many reasons why they’re so short on nurses, but the vaccine requirement isn’t one. She points to burnout, stress and lucrative travel nurse contracts as reasons employees have left her hospital.
Now UCHealth is focusing on adding benefits to retain staff.
"Our goal is to hire individuals into entry-level roles and to support them in their career path, pay their tuition and help support them in their education," Howell said. "Really the whole goal is come work for UCHealth and get a career."
But the hospitals aren’t just competing with travel nurse companies for the small pool of potential new nurses. They’re also competing against each other.
Sebastien Girard is a Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer at Centura Health. They’ve invested more than $140 million to find ways to retain employees in less than a year.
"Attracting employees is one thing. Making sure they stay is a second," Girard said. "I think that we need to adapt to this new generational shift that we are experiencing right now."
Centura wants to hire several dozen nurses a week and hired 390 in the last quarter. UCHealth just hired 200 this quarter. They hope hundreds more will come to work for them.
"It’s as simple as making sure we’re supporting them through tuition or loan forgiveness, making sure that we provide them with the right market bonuses to retain them. Making sure they’re compensated the right way," Girard said.
Hospital groups are also partnering with nursing schools and universities in Colorado to recruit straight out of college. They’re hoping academic partnerships keep a steady stream of nurses flowing into the hospitals for years to come.
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