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The COVID-19 pandemic has created staffing shortages across Michigan hospitals, especially among nurses. Rural hospitals are the hardest hit as they struggled to meet adequate staffing levels even before the pandemic. Maintaining a low nurse-to-patient ratio is key to safer patient care and improved outcomes. However, nursing schools cannot graduate enough nurses to keep pace with demand. To resolve this issue, Alpena Community College (ACC) in northeast Michigan uses simulation in its nursing education program to help train more nurses and ensure they can provide better care for patients across the region and beyond.
A lack of nursing education contributes...
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Since 2018, Indiana has experienced an increase in ambulance calls but a decrease in EMS workers[1]. This has created longer wait times for ambulance services, which could negatively impact outcomes, especially during emergencies like a stroke or traumatic injury. Thus, EMS in the state often relies on volunteers to fill open positions, despite a lack of funding to train these workers. However, the Indiana Mobile Simulation Laboratory is helping address training gaps by bringing hands-on, simulation-based training to first responders across the state, ensuring they are prepared for real-life emergencies and that patients receive high-quality care.
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The effects of the nursing shortage during the pandemic
Nurses fulfill an integral role in the support and delivery of quality healthcare. Hospitals adequately staffed with nurses experience decreased medical errors, lower patient morbidity and mortality, and far less job burnout than hospitals with high patient-to-nurse ratios[1]. However, a nursing shortage has affected the U.S. since 2012, requiring 1.2 million new registered nurses (RNs) by 2030 to address the shortage[2].
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the existing nursing shortage; up to one in five healthcare workers have left their jobs due to overwork, stress, and trauma caused by the pandemic[3] [4]....
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