NURSING: ON THE CRITICAL LIST

摘要

When nurse Sherri Stod-dard finishes her shift at Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obis-po, Calif., she's routinely wracked with anxiety. Stoddard has so many patients in the maternity ward to look after that she often doesn't immediately notice when a fetal heart rate has slowed or an expectant mother has requested more pain medication. "It's a horrible feeling," she says. Registered nurses such as Stoddard are finding their jobs so difficult that they're bailing out in droves. The current 26% turnover rate among nurses is the highest in decades. Some hospitals have resorted to offering sign-on bonuses up to $15,000 and finders' fees of $5,000.