Maryland Turns To Nursing Students & Out-Of-State Nurses To Shore Up Hospital Workforce

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BALTIMORE (WJZ) — With Maryland’s hospitals grappling with staffing shortages, Gov. Larry Hogan connected Thursday announced the authorities is taking enactment to enactment up the aesculapian workforce.

As portion of the effort, Maryland is removing roadblocks that kept nurses who are licensed successful different states from providing nursing attraction here. Besides that, the authorities is asking nursing programs to fto prime nursing students postgraduate arsenic soon arsenic possible.

“This week, Maryland reported the nation’s lowest COVID-19 rate, and we proceed to withstand the Delta variant surge amended than conscionable astir immoderate different state,” Gov. Hogan said. “While our hospitalizations stay good beneath each of our pandemic surge capableness triggers, we are taking proactive steps to maximize the quality of our hospitals to summation their nursing workforce.”

Moving forward, the Maryland Department of Health volition allow registered nurses and licensed applicable nurses who clasp progressive licenses successful different jurisdictions to signifier successful Maryland, a measurement backed by the state’s Board of Nursing.

In addition, the Maryland Higher Education Commission is encouraging nursing programs statewide to fto qualified nursing students “exit early” and participate the workforce. This tin beryllium done either by letting students instrumentality exams sooner, streamlining the last weeks of the semester oregon advancing high-performing students.

“We privation to beryllium wide astir what precisely aboriginal exit is and is not,” MHEC Secretary James Fielder wrote successful a missive Thursday to nursing schools’ deans and faculty. “Early exit is not a alteration successful the curriculum. All learning outcomes, people objectives, and programme outcomes indispensable beryllium preserved.”

Dennis Shrader, caput for the authorities Department of Health, is besides encouraging infirmary enactment and schools to collaborate connected ways to maximize the usage of nursing students and waiving the licence request for students enrolled successful doc adjunct students to practice.

The extremity of these steps, Hogan said, is to springiness hospitals much flexibility to woody with staffing needs arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

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“We person worked intimately with our hospitals, healthcare associations, and galore others successful the authorities connected this solution that volition further our quality to proceed to supply prime attraction to Marylanders,” Shrader said. “Nurses and pupil nurses person been invaluable successful our combat against COVID-19 and truthful overmuch much and these steps volition guarantee that hospitals tin usage each disposable nursing solutions.”