A “tridemic” of a new Covid-19 subvariant, the flu, and RSV has overwhelmed hospitals that are severely understaffed and unable to treat patients adequately. That’s the dire situation that Saul Anuzis, president of 60 Plus, raises in a new op-ed in RealClearHealth.
The state of staffing in American hospitals is alarming. Anuzis ticks through the statistics: McKinsey estimates that by 2025, the U.S. will experience a shortage of up to 450,000 nurses—up to 20% of the entire workforce. And according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. will require more than 203,000 new RNs every year through 2026 to fully rehabilitate the sector.
Anuzis notes that one way to alleviate the demand for nurses is to turn to foreign-educated nurses, who “are highly trained and come to the U.S. in search of career advancement and new opportunities to expand their expertise.” Anuzis writes that “these professionals relocate to under-resourced hospitals, clinics, and other care facilities to provide patients with the treatments that they need.”
After many years of understaffed facilities, Anuzis concludes that “[t]urning to foreign-educated nurses is a sound solution to fill urgent chasms in care”.
Read the full op-ed here.