Officials at area hospitals said Nebraska has a fairly stable nursing work force, which means shortages aren't as severe as other areas of the country. But they still see the affects. An advertisement in the Tribune recently showed numerous openings at Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital. The hospital needed positions filled in behavioral services, the emergency room, subacute, ICU, nursery, pediatrics and other departments. Having a variety of openings is the nature of the business, said Connie Funkey, chairwoman of the nursing management council and the director of maternal child nursing at Mary Lanning.
Nursing is a profession which is fairly cyclical.
About every seven years is the expected time frame for the cycle. So we've been here before although this is little worse than sometimes. Mary Lanning has an easier recruiting task than some hospitals, she said, because of a good reputation and having the Mary Lanning campus of the Creighton University School of Nursing. Funkey sees the biggest need across the country right now is for specialty nurses. New graduates are likely prepared to be general medical nurses and it takes additional years of experience to move into specialty areas.