CNOs discuss nursing shortage

In Becker’s Hospital Review, chief nursing officers (CNOs) this month described how they are coping with the unprecedented workforce shortage resulting from the pandemic. AONL member Kit Bredimus, DNP, RN, CNO at Midland (Texas) Memorial Hospital, reports the hospital has a 30% vacancy rate, “double what we would normally experience at this time." UCSF Health in California could use another 200 nurses, according to CNO Pat Patton, DNP, RN, also an AONL member. "One of the changes we've had to make is to hire just a lot more travelers just to keep up and have staffing, and stay within state-mandated ratios," he told Becker's, but this solution is unsustainable." Adding to the nursing staffing shortage is the fact that many nurses re-examined their priorities and transferred from inpatient to ambulatory settings,” said AONL member Beth Oliver, DNP, RN, chief nurse executive and senior vice president of cardiac services at New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System. (Becker’s Hospital Review article, 8/18/21)