Colorado nursing shortage prompts $14,000 bonuses
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Colorado is struggling to staff its two state-run psychiatric hospitals.
State of play: The shortage prompted the state's health department to say in March it would give $14,000 signing bonuses for nurses to work at psychiatric hospitals in Denver and Pueblo.
Why it matters: Less staff means fewer services are available for people with the most serious mental disorders.
What's happening: Burnout from the pandemic led to nurses leaving the field, said Leora Joseph, director of the Office of Civil and Forensic Mental Health, while other nurses switched to contract work paying higher rates and with improved hours.
- "It lasted so long, that people left the bedside [jobs]," Shawn Elliott, dean at the Arizona College of Nursing, tells us about nurses working during the pandemic.
- Elliott said there was an existing nursing shortage before the pandemic took its toll.
What they're saying: "We can't run a state psychiatric hospital without nurses," Joseph said.
- She added that the shortage also makes it hard to provide care for inmates deemed mentally incompetent.
By the numbers: Joseph said the state wants to hire about 260 nurses to fully staff both hospitals, she said.
- At least 47 people so far have applied to work at the psychiatric hospitals, department agency spokesperson Madlynn Ruble told us last week.
- Joseph called the 40% vacancy a "dramatic" one for the two hospitals.
The big picture: Pedro Almeida, deputy executive director of administrative solutions at the health department, said the state follows a nationwide trend showing a significant gap in nurses despite some healthcare jobs rebounding.
- Almeida said about 200 nurses are eligible for a $5,000 retention bonus for working at the state psychiatric hospitals.
- Colorado's recruiting push includes out-of-state applicants.