By Vanessa Johnston

MADISON, Wisc. (Reuters) – When Joenes Gellada joined the Nationwide Guard, he by no means imagined that may imply in the future coaching as a nursing assistant.   

    “By no means in my wildest goals,” he mentioned as he accomplished his two-week coaching course at Madison Space Technical Faculty in Wisconsin on Friday.

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated an current scarcity of healthcare employees with about one in 5 quitting since February 2020, in line with a Morning Seek the advice of ballot printed in October.  

    “Our healthcare employees are in determined want of our assist. They’re past exhausted,” mentioned Dr. Lisa Marie Greenwood, the affiliate dean of nursing at Madison Faculty.   

    Final month, state officers requested the faculty to coach Nationwide Guard troops to assist alleviate the pressure at hospitals and nursing houses round Wisconsin.   

    In early February, 70 soldiers-turned-certified nursing assistants have been deployed to their postings. The subsequent wave of 80 trainees will begin work this week.    

    A kind of services to obtain help was Wisconsin Dells Well being Providers, a long-term care facility for sufferers with dementia and Alzheimer’s.    

    Earlier than 10 Nationwide Guard troopers arrived in January, Heather Steubinger, the director of nursing, felt she couldn’t take the stress for much longer.    

    “I completely love my job – by no means, ever might’ve imagined doing something totally different with my life – till the pandemic hit,” she mentioned. “I questioned so many instances, like, ‘can I do that? Do I wish to do that?'”   

    Her colleagues have been quitting in droves, and hospitals have been desperate to shift sufferers to the long-term care facility to unencumber beds.   

    However the troopers provided a lifeline.

    But it surely’s solely a brief repair. The troopers are solely signed on till mid-March, although the healthcare employees hope they are going to be granted an extension.

    “I really feel like we’re all capable of breathe a bit bit higher,” Steubinger mentioned. “It has been a blessing.”