The job growth for nurses is constantly increasing. As the predictions of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employment rate for nurses will see a growth of up to 16% between 2014 and 2024. While nurses are in high demand throughout the country, Las Vegas is found to be the most affected state when it comes to the nursing shortage. Although this is not the only state that is facing the issue, there is a major challenge posed by the recruitment situations there. It has been found that those with working experience have no problem finding a job. But, for the recent graduates, the job hunt is taking a long time.

In Las Vegas, unlike the other places like California, Arizona, and Texas, new graduates are not welcomed by the healthcare facilities. Most of the organizations are found to be hiring only experienced professionals. So, for a state with the worst nursing shortage, is it not fair enough to embrace energetic new graduates with open arms? Well, recently, a new program in Las Vegas has got hopes for this scenario in the near future.

Over-the-Phone Nurses:

In this program, nurses will be recruited as over-the-phone staff. It has been launched by “Las Vegas Fire and Rescue,” where nurses will work alongside other call-takers as a new addition to the Las Vegas Fire Department’s communications center. However, the role of over-the-phone nurses will be quite different from the rest of the staff there. The program has recruited eight registered nurses so far for the service. This is a pilot program that kicked off last month, wherein some of the less severe medical phone calls will be sent.

How will it work?

A software program will walk the nurse on duty via a protocol with the caller. The on-call nurses will be prompted to ask new questions depending upon the sick or injured people’s answers. In addition, there will be two computer screens for the nurses to see. They will be showing the status of all the 911 calls that are ongoing at the center, as well as the ride-sharing service website called Lyft. So, how will this work? In the cases where patients require medical attention but not necessarily an ambulance, she can order a Lyft. This will then pick up the patients from their place and take them to a hospital or any emergency care facility.

As per the observations done by these over-the-phone nurses, several calls that are being directed to them do not have a primary care physician. And, some of them are not aware of the other options that are available for less acute medical situations. In several cases, it has been found that people know only about taking an ambulance to the hospital. Through this program, the deployment of ambulances can be reduced in the cases where they are not actually required.

So, the role of the over-the-phone nurses will be wider in these programs. They will urge the patients to seek care immediately or in two to twelve hours based on their needs. Sometimes, they would ask them to wait one to three days before taking themselves to a hospital or they would advise them to take medical care at home. The registered nurses will utilize the knowledge of how to treat the patients depending on the situations.

What should we expect?

One nurse will be on duty from 9 AM to 6 PM every day. Although the number of calls that are being received at the nurse lines would differ, it has been estimated that they are getting an average of 5 or 6 calls in a day. The Las Vegas Fire Department, which has launched this pilot program, has $300,000 regular budget for operating this. As such, this budget includes training and pay for the recruited nurses who work one day/week.

This program is planned to run for around one year or until the money drains. In the meantime, the department officials will analyze the data to determine whether the program is able to meet the goals of reducing unnecessary ambulance deployment, as well as patients’ trips to the hospital. Above all, this will also be able to provide employment to several new graduate nurses when at the same time being a solution to rectify the nursing shortage in Las Vegas. The Las Vegas City Council would be sought for the approval to make the program and the staffing permanent.

This initiative that is taken by the Las Vegas Fire Department has the potential to become a forerunner to meet demands, as well as shortage faced by the healthcare field at present. This would also have a way for the better use of resources, which is very important for the healthcare sector today.