For decades, healthcare facilities have struggled with registered nurse shortages. This issue is now insurmountable for many institutions as the pandemic rages on.
Crisis care nurses offer relief to staffing challenges. In many cases, they’re desperately needed to maintain patient care.
Did you know that the average national salary for crisis nurses is $79,567 per year? Those working in New York earn an average of $85,420 per year. Pennsylvania’s crisis care nurses make, on average, $81,148 per year.
The earning potential for a job describes one key factor in career decisions. It’s also important to consider your sense of pride in how you contribute to your field. COVID has overwhelmed healthcare facilities so they can’t meet routine care needs.
People still have accidents, heart attacks, cancer, strokes, renal failure, and more. This has kept the medical staff busy long before the pandemic started.
Does this sound like an important role that you would like to fill? Keep reading to learn more about becoming a crisis care nurse.
Crisis care nurses have responded in times of natural disasters and emergencies. This included the 911 attack, Hurricane Katrina, and other situations that compromised staffing. Today, COVID has created a staffing crisis across the country.
For some nurses, this role involves traveling for temporary assignments. Other agencies work in a specific geographic area.
Choosing to become a crisis nurse requires a strong and varied skill set. You must be ready to go at a moment’s notice, perform tasks needed, and support colleagues. This path affords high job satisfaction in knowing that you’re filling a vital patient need.
Thornbury Nursing Services provides crisis nurses for New York and Pennsylvania. Their focus is to provide highly specialized nurses to the right place at the right time.
You won’t be asked to travel outside of this area which appeals to many nurses. Their thorough vetting process improves the company’s reputation of trustworthy nurses. This facilitates a quicker rapport with the facility staff members.
You may be surprised to learn about the nursing jobs that crisis nurses fill. The areas that usually come to mind are those in hospitals. This includes ICUs, PICUs, emergency rooms, operating rooms, cath labs, and more.
Have you ever thought about crisis staffing needs in skilled nursing facilities? The COVID pandemic has created a dire shortage for this level of care.
These residents and the staff members have experienced high rates of infection. Thus, some facilities turned to the National Guard to fill their emergency needs. Many caregivers are resigning because they’re physically and mentally burned out.
Agencies, such as Thornbury Nursing Services, provide help to skilled nursing facilities. They also serve dialysis centers that are also experiencing staffing shortages.
This has forced facilities to notify their patients that they can’t provide services. Patients must scramble to find another source of care. These individuals can’t survive without regular dialysis.
Another, often overlooked area, is school nursing. These nurses care for over 50 million kindergarten to 12th-grade students. They play a significant role in protecting the well-being and health of the children.
The school nurse role normally involves a broad skill set in a fast-paced environment. Often, the nurse works the clinic alone and must perform all tasks. With COVID-19, these nurses have taken on contact tracing and quarantine tracking.
For many, the pandemic requirements have forced them to abandon other duties. Some have even added evening and weekend hours. Integrating a crisis nurse can allow them to provide more comprehensive care.
Becoming a crisis nurse takes several steps. These agencies employ registered nurses who’ve completed accredited ADN or BSN programs. All registered nurses must pass the NCLEX examination to achieve their license.
The next step is to spend at least two years gaining hands-on experience. Patient care requires a vast skill set and practice to identify potential problems. Seasoned nurses develop a sixth sense about when a patient’s condition is about to change.
Earning an advanced certification is great on your resume. More importantly, this raises your level of expertise. To gain certification, you must complete in-depth study in that area and pass a national exam.
If you wish to become a crisis nurse, it’s valuable to gain these types of nurses’ certifications:
Each certification requires a specific number of hours working in that specialty area. All require the nurse to have a current RN license. Some require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree.
Having national certifications makes you a more desirable and valuable candidate. Now, start submitting your applications and be ready to go when called.
Now that you’ve read about what crisis care nurses do, is your interest piqued? Thornbury Nursing Services provides specialized, highly-skilled local nurses on short notice. We’ve served the New York and Pennsylvania areas for 38 years.
We’re considered a trusted provider of crisis care nurses. Facilities know we’ll deliver quality nurses in a “New York minute”.
Our nurses fill in for unexpected census rises or staff absences due to illness. You can confidently grant well-deserved vacations without staffing woes. This will help reduce burnout and increase job satisfaction.
Contact us today to find exciting job opportunities.
