Nursing shortage has providers scrambling to fill shifts

Susan Goodwin’s mailbox is full of job offers.

Recruiters call regularly, dangling money, laptop computers and trips if she will work for them.

Goodwin isn’t a Donald Trump-style executive.

She is a registered nurse.

"Anywhere you want to go, they’ll relocate you," said Goodwin, an admissions nurse at Bristol Regional Medical Center. "They’re all offering all kinds of incentives and things."

Competition among health providers isn’t just about hospitals – it’s about nurses.

With a nationwide shortage of registered nurses, the story is no different in the Tri-Cities.

Amy Dyer, a nurse at Bristol Regional Medical Center, said she notices the shortage when not enough people are available to work a shift.

"You do see effects of it – you have to pull people from other floors because you don’t have people in your department," she said. "We don’t have enough people going into nursing."

The need is so great, hospitals are willing to make big moves to fill the gaps, from unique advertising to offering incentives.

In January, Mountain States Health Alliance hired a plane to tow a banner around the Tri-Cities for four hours.

The 100-foot-long banner read: "Join Mountain States. Great Pay and Benefits."

Whitney Calhoun, nurse recruiter for MSHA, said the airplane...more

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