COVID-19 vaccine is expected to help hospital staffing challenges | News

Local hospital leaders hope that the COVID-19 vaccine will help address the staffing challenges during a pandemic.

Southern Illinois Healthcare, which operates Carbondale Memorial Hospital, Herrin Hospital, St. Joseph Memorial Hospital, and clinics throughout southern Illinois, has more than 1,200 employees since the first batch of Pfizer vaccine arrived last week. I have been vaccinated against.

“It’s stressful here, but last week when I heard that I was able to sign up for the vaccine and the shipment arrived, it was a really fun moment. I keep listening to what’s called a shot of hope,” Terra said.・ Ranom said. SIH’s excellent nursing director. “This shot of hope feels like the beginning of the end of a pandemic. It’s really a huge scientific discovery and a historic moment for us.”

Each SIH employee receives a second vaccination in about 3 weeks.

“And I think the immune system will peak in about a week after that,” Lannom explained. “But yes, this can ultimately make a big difference in the level of our nursing staff.”

Ranom said staffing was a challenge due to the number of nurses who were out due to illnesses like COVID-19 or COVID during the pandemic.

“This has reduced the number of staff available to care for patients,” says Lannom. “And again, COVID patients generally require more staff than regular patients, so there is such a shortage of nurses.”

Lannom said the majority of sick SIH employees were infected by local infections rather than work-related infections. The number of nurses going out at one time fluctuates daily, but the largest number was about 60.

“And it’s not just bedside nurses. It can be nurses in other departments,” Lanom said. “But 60 is almost the best we’ve seen.”

To help compensate, Lanom said the remaining SIH employees had stepped up.

“Some nurses who left the bedside a few years ago were cross-trained to help them return to bedside, and nurses like nurse practitioners who work Monday through Friday. I also volunteered to come on holidays and after hours to help the unit. ” “We have people who want to help. If we didn’t have enough staff to go around, we didn’t want to increase the ratio, so we had to close some beds in the hospital here. . Patient ratio, etc. If there was no staff, I had to close some beds. “

Lannom hopes that the vaccine will ultimately help staffing levels when immunity peaks, but SIH will continue to take precautions.

“We will continue to wear social distances and masks for now until we know more,” Lanom said. “It will definitely take some time to vaccinate everyone.”

Staffing is also an issue at Mercy Health-Lourdes Hospital in Paducah.

“If there is a workforce in each department where several people may be ill, especially if it is a department that operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and is fully well-prepared. It’s very difficult when a person is sick. At the same time, we can find alternatives to help people who are already on the shift feel tired. ” Dr. Jenny Franke, Chief Clinical Officer of the hospital, said. “We want to make sure that the care when a patient comes to our hospital is the best possible care.”

According to Franke, the hospital has developed several strategies to use when staffing becomes an issue.

“In the early days of the pandemic, using traveling nurses and traveling staff was a fairly common occurrence,” Franke said. “Unfortunately, there are currently no COVID pockets or hotspots in certain cities in the country. With COVIDs nationwide, there is no personal pool available for travelers to fill these spots. Not really .. There are some travel nurses who can help us. This was very, very helpful. “

“The other thing we do is look at the workforce within the organization that isn’t in the hospital,” Franke continued. “That is, there are various clinics in both RN and LPN that haven’t worked in the hospital recently but have nurses who can redevelop those skills. Who has what skills, how There is a list of what can be educated in. Adapt them to other roles to assist the treatment team. “

Like SIH, Mercy Health-Lourdes Hospital began vaccination of its employees last week. Franke believes it helps with staffing challenges.

“I’m confident that once the associate is vaccinated and reaches 95% immunity, the staffing problem will be lessened,” Franke said. “I think this will allow our staff to work, have a much lower risk of getting COVID, and improve their ability to care for patients.”

According to Franke, Mercy Health-Lourdes Hospital vaccinated 240 people last week, including 200 Lourdes employees and 40 Baptist Health, Lourdes, or community contract or affiliated providers. The hospital plans to vaccinate an additional 200 to 250 people this week, including 50 EMS staff.

“So far, 240 people have been vaccinated with Pfizer, and in the next 15 minutes they haven’t seen any side effects being monitored,” Franke said. “I’ve heard from some of my colleagues about arm pain, but in reality, the side effects are negligible. The vaccine is known to work. So far, no serious side effects have been seen. Hmm. Be well educated about your vaccine options and be open to receiving the vaccine when it becomes available. “