Stephen B . Hanse , president of the Health Facilities Association that represents more than 450 nursing and assisted-living facilities , as stating , “ a survey found between 86 and 99 percent of the facilities are facing staffing shortages ,” which he characterized as ‘ alarming .’ Of those faced with staffing shortages , nearly 60 percent said the workforce crisis is “ negatively impacting their ability to admit new residents from hospitals and the community .”
Ariel Avgar , an associate professor at Cornell University ’ s School of Industrial and Labor Relations and associate director with the Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution , acknowledges that the vaccine mandate may usher in unpredictable staffing shortages
“ The staffing implications of the vaccine mandate for healthcare workers needs to be understood in the context of existing shortages in the healthcare system ,” Avgar says . “ As with other dimensions of the pandemic , this effort to reduce infections through mandates highlights and exacerbates already existing recruitment and retention challenges throughout the state ’ s healthcare system . Nursing and healthcare professional shortages have long been a challenge that practitioners and policymakers needed to address . The past 18 months have , in many areas , pushed the system to the brink . The possibility of having even fewer healthcare professionals available to meet the system ’ s needs is , I ’ m sure , a daunting prospect for healthcare administrators .”
Avgar continues , “ Administrators will need to be strategic in the way they leverage existing staffing , focusing both on long- and short-term solutions . In the short term , healthcare organizations will need to consider use of overtime , adjustments to staffing patterns , and relaxation of licensing requirements . We know , however , that these adjustments are likely to exacerbate burnout and stress for an already fatigued workforce and are not always in line with high quality care . As such , policymakers should also leverage this crisis to address a problem that existed long before the pandemic by considering efforts to increase the supply of healthcare professionals , improve the quality of frontline healthcare jobs , and invest in organizational infrastructure designed to support workers .”
Avgar adds , “ One of the unique challenges of the potential staffing shortages associated with the vaccine mandate is the lack of predictability as to where these shortages will occur . Resistance to vaccination likely cuts across different healthcare occupations making it difficult for hospitals , nursing homes , and other healthcare organizations to properly plan and adapt . In addition , the staffing implications for rural and urban healthcare organizations is likely to be uneven placing an additional burden on healthcare systems that are already operating under enormous constraints .”
Most concerns of healthcare workers , and their requests for medical exemptions , are not frivolous , and these professionals are not looking to cause their institutions or their patients any unnecessary grief . As Lyons ( 2021 ) reports , “ A traveling nurse who has worked in intensive care units throughout the pandemic said he is declining to be vaccinated because his multiple sclerosis is in remission , and he fears that a sudden immune response triggered by one of the vaccines could risk kickstarting his symptoms again .” The nurse is quoted as remarking , “ I ’ m not anti-vaccine , I ’ m anti-COVID vaccine . I ’ m essentially going to be losing my job ... because they are not allowing for any religious exemptions or medical exemptions .” This nurse ’ s girlfriend , who is also a nurse , has similar concerns about receiving the coronavirus vaccine because she has had cancer . “ Many physicians ,” the nurse said ,
“ are reluctant to issue medical exemptions for patients because they are concerned about scrutiny of their decisions by medical oversight boards . I worry that the vaccines cause a profound immune response and I ’ m nervous that potentially it could spark a storm , and all you need to do is light a match and all of a sudden , my MS is active . I talked to physicians and their answer is to say ‘( There ’ s ) no evidence it ’ s not safe .’”
As potentially thousands of nurses and other healthcare personnel are fired for their declinations , the American Nurses Association ( ANA ) is urging U . S . Department of Health and Human Services ( HHS ) secretary Xavier Becerra and the Biden administration to declare a national nurse staffing crisis and develop and implement both short- and long-term solutions to shore up the workforce .
In their Sept . 1 , 2021 letter , the ANA urged “ robust and immediate action to address the unsustainable nurse staffing shortage facing our country .” They emphasize that “ Nurses have remained steadfast on the front lines since the beginning of the pandemic , while overcoming challenges , risks to their personal health and safety such as limited personal protective equipment and the physical , emotional and mental health burden of the COVID-19 virus . Now , the Delta variant is causing cases to soar , overrunning hospital and staff capacity . These current circumstances have only exacerbated underlying , chronic nursing workforce challenges that have persisted for years . Since the nation began COVID-19 mitigation and response efforts , much focus has been placed on nurses facing shortages of equipment to appropriately care for patients . Now , it is imperative that the
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