One of questions many of you are thinking is probably, “When will everything get better?”
I’m thrilled to finally be able to answer, “Hopefully very soon!” First, COVID numbers here at UAMS and across Arkansas continue to improve. The Arkansas Department of Health reported earlier this week that 206 people were hospitalized in our state, and there were only 3,756 active cases. These are the lowest numbers on their weekly report since June 28 when they reported 211 hospitalized patients and 10,183 active cases. Thankfully, our UAMS numbers are following this same trend, and we have had less than a dozen or so hospitalized patients for several weeks now.
I also wanted to share with you part of our plans to address our staffing challenges. We have begun recruiting LPNs to work in our hospital as well as our ambulatory clinics, and we hope to be able to welcome these new employees to H6, H7 and H8 in the coming weeks. These units were selected as the first ones for our new blended nursing model because of the long-term staffing challenges they have faced.
I recorded this video last week to outline how LPNs will work alongside our current staff in a new blended nursing model that allows all our nurses to work at the top of their license and ensure our patients get the care they need. This model is very flexible and allows for different numbers of licensed and unlicensed staff to work together based on patient acuity.
I started my career with an associate degree in nursing, and two of our nursing leaders, Cancer Service Line Sr. Nursing Director Deborah Johnson, MNSc, RN, NE-BC, and Inpatient Nursing Director for Oncology/Surgical Services Christina Davis, MNSc, RN, NE-BC, both started their careers as LPNs.
UAMS offers a wide variety of career opportunities for all nursing roles, and I encourage you to tell your friends and colleagues about these new inpatient positions. As those of us who have worked in other hospitals are well aware, UAMS has a different work environment, and I think it’s one that will be attractive to nurses looking to learn more and advance their careers. Please direct anyone interested in joining our team to uamshealth.com/nurses/ for more information.
Next week is National Case Management Week. Please join me in thanking our care management partners for all they do for us and our patients.
I hope you have an opportunity to enjoy this beautiful fall weather!
Trenda