Benefis Health System has closed a few beds due to a nursing shortage.
The local staffing shortage is part of a national issue that is a “pretty severe situation right now,” Kaci Husted, Benefis’ vice president of system business development and communications, told The Electric.
Husted said that though the hospital closed some beds for the staffing shortage, they always prioritize cases and make room for emergencies.
She said no one should be worried that they can’t or shouldn’t come to Benefis if they have an emergency.
Husted said it’s hard to pin down the number of nurses they need since they track staffing in terms of licenses, but nurses are working in a variety of settings within the Benefis system.
Rayn Ginnaty, Benefis’ system chief nursing officer and hospital chief operating officer, said that they’re monitoring staffing daily and adapting to where their highest demands are.
She said that they’re also looking to the future in terms of what technology can do and continue to advance training of those in non-nursing roles to support the healthcare teams if the nursing shortage persists.
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Ginnaty said they’re doing everything possible to fill nursing vacancies and reopen beds as soon as possible.
Husted Benefis is among the hospitals grappling with the national nursing shortage.
The hospital is working with the recently opened Touro medical school down the street, but since they’re training doctors, those students and faculty aren’t licensed to help Benefis with what it needs currently for nurses, Husted said.
Ginnaty said that nursing colleges in Montana are looking at innovative ways to increase enrollment and that includes activities such as the recent Worlds of Work event in Great Falls that expose students to healthcare careers earlier than they’ve had to in the past.
She said the HOSA future health professionals programs at the local high school level are also helping to recruit students into the medical fields.
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Husted said that for years there have been predictions of staffing shortages in the healthcare fields, a situation likely exacerbated by COVID.
She said a variety of factors have been driving the staff shortages, including the evolution of healthcare that has patients who couldn’t be treated before receiving care but are sicker for longer so provider supply hasn’t kept up the demand for healthcare.
It’s difficult to get into nursing school, so the shortage might indicate a need to reevaluate nursing education, Husted said.
Ginnaty said nurses go through orientation programs for whatever area of healthcare they choose to work in.
Benefis also has a program for new nurses that offers additional support during their first year, Ginnaty and Husted said.
