Posted on 03/26/2020 10:23:43 PM PDT by rintintin
Amid a frantic scramble to open hospitals and increase the number of healthcare workers, California nursing schools are warning state officials that an estimated 10,000 nursing students are in jeopardy of not graduating, meaning they will be unable help evaluate and treat patients amid the coronavirus pandemic. Under state rules, nursing students must spend a substantial part of their clinical education in hospitals, but they are barred from doing so now because of hospital lockdown orders. Unless the state loosens its rules, students set to graduate in coming months will find it impossible to become a licensed nurse.
As a result, public and private nursing schools are pleading with Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s Board of Registered Nursing to allow greater flexibility in how students meet their clinical education requirement after many hospitals discontinued training placements because of safety concerns and to focus on the tidal wave of COVID-19 patients.
“I went through 19 months of training and the end is near and everything is coming to a screeching halt,” said Ryane Panasewicz, 27, who attends nursing school at West Coast University’s campus in Anaheim. “Keeping graduating nursing students out of the healthcare system at this time will make problems worse.”
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Yes and no.
What they are talking about is Clinicals when the nurse trainee is ushered around by a qualified nurse and gets hands on training.
Yes, it is necessary to train new nurses, but is this the time to do it?
First, it takes time, whatever the qualified nurse is doing will take longer because it has to be explained to the trainee and then the trainee has to do it. You can expect everything to take at least twice as long.
Second, the trainee is new to everything and will get somethings wrong and they will have to be redone. And there is the chance that because the trainee is new to cleanliness protocols, he/she may catch COVID-19 or pass it on to some one else.
If this pandemic turns out to be as bad as they say it will (I doubt it) then nurse will be overwhelmed and will not have time to do training.
They could try something inventive, like remote video training with GoPro cams worn by the qualified nurses. Better than nothing.
Clinical education rotations in the health system Has slammed shut ... MD/DO, Nursing, Pharmacy, PA, Dentistry, Physical Therapy, Podiatry, Optometry, even Vet Med.
The regulators have to loosen up or else the pipeline gets jammed up ... that is to have people two months from graduation unable to be licensed or enter into internships, residencies, and other essential situations, etc.
National organizations that oversee training in Nursing, PA, and PT all even today demand student have direct patient contact even without proper disease prevention equipment, etc.
A highly technical yet huge public policy issue!
What they should honestly just do is waive the requirement. Hospitals won’t hire them if they’re incompetent anyway
Having been involved in On-the-Job-Training for 30 plus years I can say from experience that there is no substitute for Hands On training.
I don’t care what field you’re talking about.
You’ve never been to a small town hospital, have you.
I think most people who’ve served in the military would agree with you. You could drag someone in with no background....give them a month of simple background information and on-the-job training...and the guy can do all of the basic things that you require. It’d be different we were talking a nuclear plant, or brain surgery. But 90-percent of jobs today aren’t that complicated.
In the 35 years either in the military or associated with it...I probably picked up twenty-five different fields of expertise. Everything from the logistical field, security, and computer trainer....to general handyman skills, drywall installation, and bus-driver.
I don’t know if that would be true anymore.
Thanks to our nanny government even home painting is highly technical today.
Did you know that if you are painting a structure in the US today that was built before 1975 (I think that is the year) if you are removing old paint there has a remediation plan to deal with lead paint that involve respirators and clean up and disposal of lead. The workers have to be certified.
There is so much of these little known regulations today that lots of people violate Federal Regulations every day and never know it.
This is a foolish time to throw these new people into the fire. Not while it’s white hot.
I would think this would be excellent opportunity to train nurses.
In my opinion, hospitals can rotate them through services where the Wuhan patients aren't to let them gain experience and skills. Recently retired RN proctors might be used for a large part of their training. Shut down the PC indoctrination and a huge chunk of time becomes available for actual nursing training needed to round out their knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Unions.
My daughter is in this boat. They are going to virtual reality classes and case studies. For insurance reasons (and others) they can’t let them do the rotations they were doing. Here (in VA) they have also cut the number of required hours. We will need them, so making it impossible for them to complete their education is foolish.
You are absolutely correct in everything you said. Glad my daughter’s clinicals have stopped as I am in the older and immunocompromised group. I’d like to live long enough to see her graduate.
The noblest profession in the world is plumbing. What sets a superior civilization apart from an inferior one is potable drinking water and proper sanitation. And plumbers make a good buck.
Thanks
Putting the inexperienced students in harms way would be irresponsible.
Unfortunately this puts your daughters career on hold but if this pandemic ends up being all that it is advertised to be she is better off as is everyone in the hospital.
Based on conditions in California even in the best of times, what you propose would shut down training in most parts of southern California almost all of the tine. nurse trainees should not be exposed to street poopers or illegals who require an interpreter. It would be difficult to plan nursing school graduations around when it is safe to be in a California hospital.
LOL. My daughter is currently on “Mommy tracK.” She teaches on line courses at Liberty.
And she isn’t in healthcare, she’s a PhD in Neuroscience.
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