In summary

The pandemic has shown the many flaws of our health care system and why hospitals have become short-staffed.

By Briana Daoust, San Diego

Briana Daoust is a nursing student at California State University San Marcos.

Re “Nurse shortages in California reaching crisis point”; Coronavirus, Aug. 26, 2021

I have been working as a certified nursing assistant, and I have been in nursing school during the entire COVID-19 pandemic. 

It appears that every hospital is short staffed, and patient safety is what is at risk. Medical errors happen when staff are tired, stressed and over the staffing ratio. The pandemic has shown the many flaws of the health care system and how the medical unit’s culture can crush the staff’s spirits. 

I hear every day that staff call in and need time off because they are overworked. At the same time, there are always bonuses and double-time pay for those who pick up extra shifts, but at times that is not enough to draw people’s interest. 

This article depicts the problems currently happening in health care, and it was interesting to see many different RN’s thoughts. I enjoyed seeing a different perspective from around California.

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