UPMC Hamot hopes that Renee Yosten will be part of its long-term solution to the chronic shortage of nurses.
Yosten, 37, is manager of transportation services at the Erie hospital but will soon leave her job to become a student at Hamot s new nursing school. It was so difficult to tell my boss, Yosten said. She let out an expletive, then sighed and said, You re going to be a great nurse.
Hamot and hospitals across the country are in need of great nurses as more of the Baby Boom-generation of nurses approach retirement age each year.
The average age of an employed registered nurse increased from 42.7 in 2000 to 47.9 in 2018, according to a U.S. Department of Health & Human Services nursing survey.