LOS ANGELES — As Southern California gets closer to full ICU capacity, the need for nurses continues to grow. Governor Gavin Newsom put a call out to retired health care workers to come back to work, while county health departments said beds and supplies are not the issue, but the staffing to keep up with the demand.
Director of Operations at Secure Nursing Services, Paul Belandres, helps fill unforeseen staffing needs for hospitals in Southern California.
Belandres has a roster of registered nurses that work on temporary contracts wherever they are needed. With the recent surge of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, it has been busier than ever.
Belandres said he has never seen anything like it.
“There is a crazy need for ICU and basically nurses, the whole unit of the nurses,” said Belandres.
Phones have been ringing off the hook and their emails are full. Belandres said they usually receive one or two requests a week for ICU nurses per hospital. Recently, he received 20 in a single day at one location. The orders for staff in all units are now piling up.
“One-hundred-and-sixty-one orders. This is just for one hospital,” said Belandres.
Eric Newsom, a local nurse for Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, said ICU nurses are working long and stressful hours. They are not taking breaks and being asked to work overtime.
“The stress is big. You’re always trying to make sure you are protecting yourself, wearing that protective equipment, doing the appropriate care, and by the time you are finished with that 12 hours, you are ready to go home,” said Newsom.
He has seen more travel nurses coming in than ever, but even that is not providing enough help. Newsom participated in a protest earlier this week and it created some change: Kaiser is now offering bonuses for their staff nurses to take an extra 12-hour shift, which he said is a step in the right direction.
But if staffing needs aren’t met, the nurse-to-patient ratio may be forced to go from one nurse for every two to three patients to one nurse looking after three to four patients, which Newsom said is not sustainable.
“I just don’t think there is any way around the fact that if we can’t keep the staffing up, there will be a change in how we deliver the care. You might potentially have a deficit in your care in nursing,” said Newsom.
He notes that nurses signed up for this and they have a duty to be on the frontlines to help others, but the demand can be overwhelming. Belandres agrees the demand is hard to keep up with, especially with the need for nurses only increasing around the country.
“Even if we work harder, we don’t have enough nurses to put in to all those orders,” said Belandres.
The California Nurses Association said if the ratio changes, it will be dangerous for both health care workers and the patients.