The nursing shortage is very real and affecting many hospitals around the country. It is expected that the US will need a million new registered nurses in order to help all the people who need care. What's even worse is that many qualified students get turned away from schools because the schools themselves don't have the facilities and classroom space.
At Mountain View Hospital, the hospital is limiting the amount of patients it can take in because there aren't enough nurses around. The hospitals has 168 beds that are licensed but they can only take care of 110 to 120 which is not a great use of the facilities.
Nurses are having to work long hours and overtime just to meet the demands. They are already stressed out and this reduces the quality of care. Many local residents are also concerns with these problems as they realize that if they visit the hospitals, they may not be getting the best care. This is a problem that the whole country faces and it will take some large initiatives to solve this problem.
