LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – Collectively, hospitals in Michigan employ over 200,000 employees, making it one of the largest employers in the state. However, there are more than 2700 current job openings in the healthcare field. Michigan, facing a growing challenge as nursing shortages continue statewide.
“8,500 nurses, that’s how many open positions exist today that we are trying to fill. The reality is we are in the midst of not just a Michigan nursing shortage but a national nursing shortage,” said Brian Peters of the Michigan Health and Hospital Association. Leah Rasch is a registered nurse with Sparrow Hospital and says working conditions no longer served her colleagues who have left their positions.
“I should only have four patients, safely take care of four patients on the shift and we’re taking care of six and seven sometimes. So, a lot of nurses just couldn’t do that anymore and stepped away from the bedside.”
The Michigan Hospital and Health Association says many of the vacancies are a result of unplanned retirement, resignation, and burnout. An issue that started before the pandemic and has only continued. Peters also says there’s a growing concern for safety.
“Patients and others who are either physically or verbally abusing our front-line caregivers. That has really been on the increase since the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Peters says addressing the nursing shortage isn’t as simple as mandating staff-to-patient ratios but protecting workers from conflict and increasing the use of telehealth to service more patients.
There is legislation that looks to mandate staff-to-patient ratios, in addition, to a package of bills that look to issue increased penalties for assaulting medical staff.
News Ten contacted health systems in Mid-Michigan and McLaren Health responded with a statement:
Over the past year, multiple recruitment and retention initiatives have led to staffing progress across McLaren Health Care. Faced with historic, industrywide staffing challenges, we are pleased that we have experienced a significant increase in the hiring of new nurses and a significant decrease in the turnover rate of nurses. These two important factors have greatly reduced the number of open nurse positions since the start of 2023. The trend of fewer open positions is also applicable to non-nursing roles, as the year-over-year turnover rates across all job categories has decreased.
Kimberly Keaton Williams, McLaren Health Care Vice President of Talent Acquisition & Development and Chief Diversity Officer
The Michigan Health Council says from 2019 to 2022, hospitals saw a 1% drop in registered nurses (RN) and a 22% decrease in licensed practicing (LPN) and vocational nurses (VN).
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