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No Job Shortage Here

Jasmina Meyer/Highlands Today

Ann Schuffert, an RN in the Cardiac Cath Lab, sets up a bedside monitor for Greg Eisenstein and explains to him his upcoming heart catherization procedure on Tuesday at Florida Hospital Heartland Division in Sebring.

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By BILL RETTEW JR.

Highlands Today

Published: December 10, 2008

SEBRING - Snowbird Janet Morris got an offer she couldn't refuse.

Until a few weeks ago, the 20-year veteran nurse lived year round in Wabash, Ind. While her husband enjoyed several winters here as a seasonal visitor, Morris occasionally visited by plane, but continued to work year-round in the Hoosier State.

Florida Hospital Heartland Division offered to pay Morris' health care benefits and allow her to work just six months a year locally.

The nurse jumped at the offer and the couple was reunited year-round.

Morris got the unconventional job benefit offer partly because nurses and other health care professionals are in demand both nationally and locally.

Statistics supplied by nurses.com shows Florida will add more than 6,400 nurses this year, with the number of unfilled positions expected to jump from 10,437 in 2007, to 18,400 in 2010, and about 52,000 in 2020.

Patients are living longer, getting older and when hospitalized are sicker than ever before, according to Donna Snyder, chief nursing officer at Florida Hospital.

Becky Sroda, associate dean of the Allied Health program at South Florida Community College, said all 38 nursing students who graduate later this week were able to find jobs.

"They have to start at the bottom," said Sroda. "But there are jobs out there. When students come into the program, they're very optimistic that it will result in good, steady employment."

While nurses will work hard, with much responsibility and will be well compensated, the college works to instill students with heart, said Sroda.

"The jobs are very rewarding and it feels good to help people, to touch somebody's life," said the dean about the qualities that keep many nurses working for decades.

Jessica Suarez will graduate as a licensed practical nurse later this week from SFCC and is finishing two, six-week stints at Florida Hospital Heartland Division.

She said the hospital staff treats her "exceptionally well" and she appreciated "feeling wanted."

Dustin Chamber is nursing manager at the hospital and oversees Suarez. He said the students get a chance to experience a possible future employer first hand, while at the same time, the hospital staff appraises the work of students.

Michelle Myers, human resources manager at Florida Hospital, said the health care provider develops relationships with students prior to graduation.

The hospital strives for students to learn as much as they can about their chosen career long before they complete their studies.

"They have the opportunity to see who we are, what we are and if we do what we say we do," said Myers. "We can create an environment where they feel like they are part of a bigger picture, rather than going down the road to somebody who pays a buck an hour more."

Sandy Milton, nurse manager, SURG 3, said the hospital strives to teach more than what is learned in school and keep those first days at a new job less stressful.

"If you have a good trainer, then you have that successful nurse who can take patients and fulfill all their needs for a good income," said Milton.

A recent graduate spends two or three months working one-on-one with a "preceptor" or trainer, while experienced nurses might take two to three weeks.

Ruth Velez is the preceptor to Morris and stresses continuity.

"I'm not teaching her my way," said Velez. "She can make her own organized system."

The health profession gives nurses a chance to move up and to assume several roles, including as a staff nurse, charge nurse, nurse managers and directors.

Ann Schuffert is an RN in the Cath Lab at Florida Hospital.

During the past 16 years, she has worked in an intensive care unit, as surgical and cardiovascular nurses, along with several other fields. The hospital paid for Schuffert's 500 hours of cath lab training in Orlando

"We're not locked in," said Schuffert. "And we avoid burnout. We're given the opportunity to learn and grow.

Danielle Hoopingarner is an RN and charge nurse at Florida Hospital. She is excited that hospitals are giving nurses more challenges and larger roles than before.

"We're more independent," she said. "We have so much more autonomy with patient care to make decisions.

"We're also a lot more involved on the technical end of it, with a lot higher skill level."

Bill Rettew Jr. may be contacted at 386-5857 or wrettew@highlandstoday.com

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