Fall/Winter 2021-22 rural Oregon, had 90 openings. Not all of them were clinical, but one-third of them were: nursing, diagnostic imaging, respiratory therapists, laboratory, and more. “We are struggling like everyone else to maintain safe nursing standards,” Williams said. Williams said appreciation bonuses of $1,000 were helpful, but she also said her team went further. “We needed to bring some normalcy to our staff, so we started an employee recognition drawing. Every day we do a drawing of two $50 gift cards. It’s really a gift of gratitude, thank you for being part of our team.” When it comes to showing gratitude and getting creative, it’s hard to top the special gesture from Curry General’s management team during Hospital Week. They washed staff members’ cars. “We are working toward creating a culture of gratitude and appreciation. And it is through our staff that we will be able to recruit people that want to be here.” At Good Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston, staff support has also been a top priority to address the exhaustion the surge brought. “It’s the burnout from their day to day lives at home, the expectations at work, and everything that comes from society,” said Sara Camden, Director of Critical Care. “The first wave of COVID was ‘I’m a superhero, I can do anything.’ The second wave it felt like I don’t really matter this time, I’m not really that important. They didn’t really feel that valued.” Good Shepherd has brought in outside resources for support and counseling in addition to the many daily efforts from the team. “There have been plenty of one-onone discussions in your office, and just shut the door and let people have a moment,” said Janeen Reding, Vice President of Human Resources. “Some of what I ammost proud of is to see the emergence of empathy in the staff,” Reding said. “They could have become disgruntled, but there is a resilience instead. I’m really proud of the staff for that, they have chosen to be even more supportive to each other, given each other some extra grace.” Of course, the staffing crisis was not confined to rural hospitals. Urban hospitals were affected as well. Legacy Health’s chief nursing officer said they took an “all hands on deck approach” to surviving the surge and maintaining high standards of care. “My job is to make sure we have the right amount of resources to “There have been plenty of one-on-one discussions in your office, and just shut the door and let people have a moment.” Janeen Reding, VP of Human Services, Good Shepherd continues 25
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