Fixing the Nursing Shortage
Rural hospitals have been doing it for decades: They have found an answer to the ever increasing shortage of registered nurses (RN) that's been rippling through this country at an alarming rate. While the reasons for the shortage vary from economic hardships to a lack of quality programs producing the required numbers, the solution may be right under our nose.
In light of the economic crisis facing this country today, companies are attempting to get by with less. Less personnel that is! Private, for-profit, as well as fire-based EMS services are running more emergency calls with fewer staff members because of budget cuts. We may have a shortage of RN's, but we do have quality training sites putting out an abundance of trained paramedics. Why should this matter? Let's look at some of the comparisons between the two vocations and it should become clear.
Nursing programs typically take two years to complete, as does a paramedic program. Additional training is available to both RN's and medics who want to "specialize" in a particular area such as intensive care, gerontology or pediatrics. Both require registration with the state, which allows for regulation and standard of care recognition. Both require continuing education to maintain licenses and proficiency of skills. But that's where the similarities seem to end.
Paramedics are trained to start IV's, give life saving medications, stop life-threatening bleeding, stabilize fractured bones, provide a secure airway, and not only recognise but manage a whole host of medical conditions; as are nurses, but paramedics do this with less of a support system. With their training they can be utilized in nearly all areas of the hospital or clinical setting without the additional staff needed. All of this for about half the salary of an RN.
Given the paramedic's ability to multi-task under extremely difficult situations, the availability of a multitude of educational opportunities to expand their scope of practice, their adaptability to their environment, and the plenitude of available personnel, it would seem that the answer to the shortage of nurses is simple. Paramedics offer comparable patient care whether in an Emergency Room environment, Intensive Care, or clinical setting, and at a more economical price.
The average salary for an RN is thirty to forty-five dollars an hour, compared to that of a paramedic which is typically around fifteen to twenty dollars an hour. With similar training and similar competency, it would seem to make sense that in areas where the staffing numbers are at such a critical level that we need be concerned with the effects to patient care, that we would utilize a perhaps overlooked resource that is available.
