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To the editor: As we celebrate Nurses Week 2021, which runs from May 6 through May 12, it s a good time to reflect on how nurses are feeling the effect of the pandemic. A recent American Nurses Association survey revealed over half of nurses surveyed felt exhausted, and 43 percent were overwhelmed. Forty-two percent of Vermont nurses felt anxious, higher than the national average. One out of four nurses felt sad, with 23 percent being depressed.
To avert a workforce crisis, Vermont needs to protect and value its nurses. As the largest component of the healthcare workforce, nurses need to be included in decisions about healthcare and on committee assignments.
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Nurses are feeling the effect of the pandemic. A recent American Nurses Association survey revealed over half of nurses surveyed felt exhausted, and 43 percent were overwhelmed. Forty-two percent of Vermont nurses felt anxious, higher than the national average. One out of four nurses felt sad, with 23 percent being depressed.
To avert a workforce crisis, Vermont needs to protect and value its nurses. As the largest component of the healthcare workforce, nurses need to be included in decisions about healthcare and on committee assignments.
⢠Advanced Practice Nurses need to be considered equitably with physicians in decisions and funding concerning the practitioner workforce, to assist both rural and other populations in need of primary care.
School nurses have been more important than ever keeping students safe during the COVID pandemic. Yet, Vermont still has a school nurse shortage.
The Vermont State School Nurses Association estimates there are about 350 school nurses, compared to the 391 K-12 schools in Vermont. That figure doesn t reveal how many part-time nurses there are, how many are shared across a district, or how many larger schools have multiple nurses.
Sophia Boyle Hall, president of the nurses association, said in her district in the Northeast Kingdom (Kingdom East School District), three schools have part-time nurses and one other school hasn t been able to hire one this year. In the Addison Central School District, six rural elementary schools share two nurses, according to Kelly Landwehr, that district s COVID Coordinator and high school nurse.