National Guard troops fill in as nursing assistants amid healthcare worker shortage

Record ID: 1660864

  • Title: National Guard troops fill in as nursing assistants amid healthcare worker shortage
  • Date: 20th February 2022
  • Summary: WISCONSIN DELLS, WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES (FEBRUARY 18, 2022) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) SCOTT ARNESON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF WISCONSIN DELLS HEALTH SERVICES, SAYING: "They're amazing - our ten guys - it should've been a recipe for disaster. They came in really untrained, and Heather had to throw her schedule out the window to reschedule just to get these guys up to s
  • Embargoed: 6th March 2022 18:38
  • Keywords: Madison College National Guard healthcare workers nursing assistants staff shortages
  • Location: MADISON + WISCONSIN DELLS, WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES
  • City: MADISON + WISCONSIN DELLS, WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Health/Medicine,United States
  • Reuters ID: LVA003FZM993B
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: When Joenes Gellada joined the National Guard, he never imagined that would mean one day training as a nursing assistant.
    "Never in my wildest dreams," he said as he completed his two-week training course at Madison Area Technical College in Wisconsin on Friday (Feb. 18).
    But just as soldiers across the United States have been called to help with COVID-19 testing and vaccinations, they are now being called to jump in on another urgent healthcare matter: a shortage of workers.
    "Our healthcare workers are in desperate need of our help. They're beyond exhausted," said Dr.Lisa Marie Green, the associate dean of nursing at Madison College.
    About one in five healthcare workers has quit since February 2020, according to a Morning Consult poll published in October.
    "Even prior to the pandemic...we experienced shortages. It's the pandemic that's really exacerbated that," Green added.
    Last month, state officials called the college to ask if they could send National Guard troops in for training to help alleviate the strain at hospitals and nursing homes around Wisconsin.
    In early February, 70 soldiers-turned-certified nursing assistants were deployed to their postings. The next wave of 80 trainees will start work this week.
    So far, the program has been a success, according to the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs.
    "It's a sigh of relief from some of those facilities to have the extra staff," said spokesperson Major Gretel Weiskopf.
    One of those facilities is Wisconsin Dells Health Services, a long-term care facility in a rural area, where employees care for patients with dementia and Alzheimer's.
    Before 10 National Guard soldiers arrived in January, Heather Steubinger, the director of nursing, felt she could not take the stress much longer.
    "I absolutely love my job - never, ever could've imagined doing anything different with my life - until the pandemic hit," she said. "I questioned so many times, like, 'can I do this? Do I want to do this?'"
    Her colleagues were quitting in droves, and hospitals were eager to shift patients to the long-term care facility to free up beds.
    But the soldiers offered a lifeline. It was not without some growing pains.
    Unlike the National Guard members at Madison College, their recruits came in with no training.
    "It should've been a recipe for disaster," said Scott Arneson, executive director of the facility. "Nobody felt good about it on day one. By day three people were convinced that this is going to work and work well."
    But it's only a temporary fix. The soldiers are only signed on until mid-March, though the healthcare workers hope they will be granted an extension.
    "I feel like we're all able to breathe a little bit better," Steubinger said. "It's been a blessing."
    (Production: Kevin Fogarty, Vanessa Johnston)
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