Nursing Student’s role in COVID-19 Response
If you’re currently in nursing school…
Original Article on Los Angeles Times
Newsom said the state hopes to tap nursing school students to help with the crisis, but details about that process were unclear. Nursing students were encouraged to apply to the California Health Corps to begin working in hospitals, but one of the most pressing questions for those students has yet to be answered.
Nursing schools across the state have pleaded for weeks with Newsom and the Board of Registered Nursing to change licensing requirements so that an estimated 10,000 nursing students could graduate in the coming months. California requires nursing students to spend most of their clinical education in hospitals providing supervised care for patients, but the coronavirus outbreak has caused hospitals to restrict access to prevent the spread of COVID-19. That meant thousands of nurses across the state were no longer able to complete hospital rotations required to graduate.
While the schools asked for graduation leniency, other states have already begun awarding temporary emergency licenses to nurses.
The Idaho Board of Nursing announced an apprentice program this month to move nursing students into hospitals and a temporary emergency license for students who are nearing graduation. The Texas Board of Nursing also relaxed its rules on how many hours nursing students must work in hospital training rotations.
On Monday, California nursing schools said they were left wondering what changes will ultimately be made to help their students.
“We applaud Governor Newsom’s efforts to add to the healthcare workforce and absolutely agree that time is of the essence in taking action against COVID-19,” said Dr. Robyn Nelson, the dean of nursing at West Coast University, in a statement. “This urgency is why we are left disappointed that there is still no clear pathway forward for the thousands of nursing students who can no longer move forward with their education.”