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Hospitals in the Basin in need of long-term nurses

With COVID-19 cases continuing to rise, hospitals are looking to bring back retired nurses and new nurses alike.

ODESSA, Texas — Nurses are becoming more important than ever as COVID-19 cases continue to spike. 

Hospitals are seeking out nurses to help them deal with the rise in COVID patients now, but also for later in the fall and winter. 

When asked if people should be alarmed that Medical Center is publicly asking for more nurses, the answer was no.

"I wouldn’t say that there’s an alarm. It’s just us being proactive. We have nurses here, we have travel nurses on their way, we have lots of PRN staff, and we have of course our leaders that are here and can step in. This is just us being proactive knowing that the Fourth of July, that two week period, is going to be coming," MCH nursing director, Christin Timmons said.

These hospitals are looking for anyone with nursing experience, not just those who have been in the field for several years. 

There are several nursing schools with classes graduating this July and August, and MCH is recruiting these schools hard to get graduates on-board and up to speed.

This is also similar to what hospitals see as winter approaches. 

"Many times in the winter, we call it winter readiness, we do the same type of thing as we get certain patterns of different groups of people to come in and work for us for a short period of time," Timmons said.

MCH hopes that these hires that come in will be able to offer a much needed breather to the already overworked nurses.

"We’re just gonna keep the door open until we feel like we’ve truly got enough to give everybody a breather and to take care of our patients and then we'll kind of reevaluate," Timmons said.

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