Nebraska nursing shortage deteriorates hospital conditions

HASTINGS – With two nurses out sick in early December, charge nurse Osa Brooks found herself scrambling to care for 28 patients. With only one floor nurse available, employees from other units were called in to work the floor or give medications.

“It was really scary because I had 10 patients that I was responsible for, and I had another nurse giving medications for me,” Brooks said.

Brooks said the chaos scared her because of the chance that she could have missed something, causing her patients a longer stay at Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital or impacting the level of care they received.

Accor...