BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — There is a new effort to bolster the health care industry in Western New York, as a special class of "graduates" celebrated the beginning of a new chapter in their careers Tuesday night.
It is an industry that has struggled in recent years.
In November 2018, the Department of Labor stated that the Buffalo-Niagara Falls Metro Area had more than 15,000 hospital workers, however, that number dropped sharply during the pandemic; in no small part due to high rates of burnout among nurses.
Early in the fall of 2021, the industry lost 2,000 workers, before it rebounded.
Since March 2022, the number of hospital workers has steadily risen but there are still 13,000 fewer hospital workers now than there were five years ago.
7 News' Pheben Kassahun went to a special graduation to hear from people who are working to make a difference in the healthcare industry in Western New York.
She spoke with Catholic Health and an RN in the field about their new approach to bringing nurses into the field more quickly.
Catholic Health's first Nurse Residency Program graduation will bring in 12 new nurses into the workforce.
The unique thing is, that they have already been training in the workforce for the last six months through the healthcare system.
"As nurses come here, we want them to stay with us. We want them to be happy with their profession. It's very stressful when you're a brand-new nurse. There's a lot to learn. Your experience that you have in school don't necessarily mimic when you start," Catholic Health President and CEO Joyce Markiewicz said.
Markiewicz said this program helps the nurses gain confidence in their abilities to be a health care worker.
The University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) states that, given the growing demand for healthcare services across a multitude of specialties, reports project that 1.2 million new registered nurses will be needed by 2030 to address the current shortage.
Catholic Health is working to accommodate the rising demand.
"About 18% of new nurses turnover in the first year. They think they know what they want to do and then they come out into the real world and it's a little bit different than what they expected," she added.
Qualifications for the program are graduating from a nursing program and passing or collecting an RN license.
One thing that sets them apart is preparedness, according to Catholic Health Corporate Nurse Educator Michael Macri.
When students graduate program - they are automatically employed as catholic health critical care and emergency nurses.
Macri told Kassahun, "We're very big about supportive practice in making sure that our residents feel comfortable. They have the knowledge, they have the hands-on simulation to prepare them for the scenarios that can happen in a moment's notice."
There's a 360 camera in the room that allows instructors to debrief with the students afterward to discuss what went well and what can be done differently.
Macri said, "One of the things that makes our residency program very unique is how we mirror the classroom learning with the hands-on high-fidelity simulation. Our sim room has a simulation mannequin that can really do everything besides get out of bed. We can simulate different vital sign changes, different abnormalities with their breathing pattern, for example. One of the biggest benefits is that it will allow our residents to sort of see variations from normal and what they can expect in their emergency or intensive care setting."
Markiewicz, who began her career as a registered nurse, shared she wished there was a program like this when she became a nurse because she had an experience that left her feeling doubtful.
"I had a patient that became very ill, very quickly. I felt very inadequate that I wasn't well equipped to handle that emergency even though I had just finished that four-year degree," she explained. "When you're in a residency program where someone is supporting you and they're giving you those opportunities to have those experiences but they're by your side, and they're explaining things to you and you know that you have somebody to rely on, it's a very different experience."
