Editorial: Nursing shortage and pay needs more attention
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It’s hard to prioritize whose work is more important than someone else’s at any time. Sidney Crosby might be the bright star of the Pittsburgh Penguins, but you can’t play hockey without the guy who drives the Zamboni over the ice, either.
The coronavirus pandemic can make those inevitable comparisons even more pronounced. The contributions of all those essential workers who keep the the world spinning are just that. Essential. We need the grocery store clerks, the fast food workers, the utility employees, the corrections officers. We need all the people who can be safely doing their jobs right now.
But if there is one group that particularly is crucial, it’s health care workers. With hospitals full of covid-19 patients and nursing homes among the most critical populations, the nursing staff who are at those front lines have never been more vital.
That necessity has created a huge need for nurses — especially as their contact with patients puts them at high risk of contracting covid-19. An October report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed 5.9% of those hospitalized with the disease through May 31 were health care workers, and 36.3% of those were nurses.
Part of that could be that older people are more at risk, and the average age of nurses is getting higher. According to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, the majority of registered nurses top 55 years old, and those over 65 are still among the largest demographics.
Which makes it unfortunate that nurses are a commodity in a haggling tug-of-war.
Westmoreland County just approved a contract extension with Dedicated Nursing Associates of Delmont that includes pandemic pay for its temporary staff at Westmoreland Manor. The county had been giving additional pandemic pay to its own nursing staff, but the pot of federal CARES Act money that covered that has dried up.
That puts everyone in a position that just isn’t fair. The county has done nothing wrong and doesn’t deserve to be vilified for simply not having the money to pay nurses for the danger they are facing. Nursing agencies such as DNA are only advocating for what is best for their employees as they provide a necessary service. And nurses, regardless of who is paying them, just want to be appreciated for the work they do.
“Hopefully, with the new administration coming in, we’ll see more CARES money,” Commissioner Gina Cerilli said.
That would be helpful, but finding solutions will take more than hope that someone else drops a check in the county’s lap. It is more than a county problem. It’s a state, federal and private problem that needs to be addressed with cooperation and creativity.