Children's hospitals stretched thin as home care nurse shortage continues
MINNEAPOLIS -- Children's hospitals are being stretched to a breaking point because there aren't enough home care nurses for patients ready to be discharged.
The nursing shortage has made life difficult for families who rely on the care.
Claire Wurgler is an 11-year-old who's one of those patients. She was born with spina bifida and has had a tracheostomy tube her whole life.
"She's very energetic," Claire's mother, Becca, said. "She loves going to school."
Becca says Claire has been forced to miss weeks of classes this year though because they can't find a nurse for her.
"We're going on almost 12 years of home care nursing...and I will tell you this is by far the biggest staffing issue we have had," Becca said. "There are times we literally go days without someone."
Tiffany Goodchild says her son with cerebral palsy, Karter, only gets about half the care he needs.
She says the problem is the nurses' pay.
"They're not getting a comparable wage to what hospital nurses make, so the kids and the family suffer because of it," Goodchild said.
Goodchild testified Wednesday in front of a state Senate committee taking up a bill to raise home nursing reimbursement by 55 percent.
Industry leaders say that would at least make things more competitive between hospital and home wages, where the work is nearly identical.
"Nurses deserve to be paid for their skill set, not the environment where they practice," said Dr. Brooke Moore, a pediatric pulmonologist at Children's Minnesota.
The dearth of home nurses has a snowball effect too.
Moore says she's often forced to delay patient discharges, sometimes for weeks, which racks up costs for everyone.
"We see kiddos just sitting there waiting," said Becca Wurgler, an ICU nurse at Children's. "They're ready to go, but there's no home care for them, so we have to take care of them."
Bipartisan support for raising home nursing wages offers hope for both the hospitals and the families.
"We want to be able to give [Karter] the best quality of life and in order to do that, we need home care support," Goodchild said.
Providers say home nurses generally get paid about $30 to $45 an hour. In hospitals, they can make up to $70.
Families and legislators hope to see the home nurse wage increases approved by the end of the session this summer.
