D.C. hospital seeks foreign nurses to stabilize work force

Greater Southeast Community Hospital is looking across the globe to turn itself around after a bankruptcy nearly forced its closure more than two years ago. The hospital in the District's Ward 8 is bringing dozens of nurses from overseas to work at the 450-bed facility, which has had problems hiring and retaining staff over the years. "If you don't have stable nurse work force, then it can create confusion and inconsistencies," said Joan Phillips, the hospital's chief executive officer. "We're looking to the international nurses because this is a hard area to attract nurses to and there's a nursing shortage nationwide."

Ward 8 in Southeast Washington is a combination Third World hellhole and war zone. When the crack dealers were capping each other nightly, most of the action was there. And this is the hospital where the meat wagons typically hauled the casualties.

Pay has nothing to do with it, in this case.

My apologies to you and the other poster. I wasn't aware of that situation.
I just see whats in this area, and what i see disturbs me. My wife is the DON of a local nursing home. I hear daily the troubles she faces. They can't keep nurses due to low pay and forget about keeping well trained aids when the average pay in this area is 7.25 an hour. Many's, the time she's had to go back to work because of short staff.
How she's been able to do this so long is amazing.

There is a book, "Where Have All the Nurses Gone?" Listening to the author on c-span made me wonder if failure to train enough nurses and doctors may not be contributing to the high cost of health care. I know that there are serious mis-management issues, but leave it to government planners to think that they can repeal the law of supply and demand.

"'Where Have All the Nurses Gone?' Listening to the author on c-span made me wonder if failure to train enough nurses and doctors may not be contributing to the high cost of health care."

Saw at least one of the author's talks on C-Span. She hit on one of my theories: used to be the 'smart' girls in high schools went on to train as nurses, teachers, or secretaries. Those were the options. Since the early-mid 70's, the 'smart girls' are becoming doctors, engineers, lawyers, managers, etc. Not too many are following the nurse/teacher career path any more. Now, it seems, there are more MALE nurses, most coming by way of the military.

But as to cost ... try going to your local hospital's ER on a given Friday evening, after work hours (5-8p). If it's like ours, it's a Third-World Social/Medical Hour. The ER seems to be "the place" to go for illegals for medical care and socializing, thanks to social service programs and Congressional mandates. It's as if they agree to work thru Friday eve, THEN go to the doctor ... not to a doctor's office, but to the ER where costs are so much higher. And why should they care? They're not paying for it. Medicaid pays the hospital only a fraction of the costs. Multiply that out by hundreds of hospitals across the US. The hospitals just cannot absorb unpaid medical care in such numbers, and *someone* has to pay the tab.

Misuse of emergency rooms is certainly a contributing factor, but I think that those who want the government to take over have deliberately kept the supply of medical professionals down, and that will always increase cost. They are the same people who have set policies that ER's must treat anyone and not charge them. Those people are paying for everything else. Why not medical care? When I was raising two children in Omaha, we uised what we called Doc in a Box. They were drop in centers which cost about $50.

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