Retired Nurses Help To Fill Gaps As Covid-19 Cases Takes A Toll On Healthcare Workers

(CBS DETROIT) – As Michigan continues to see an alarming number of Covid-19 cases, hospitals across Mid-Michigan are trying to prevent overworking their staff on hand.

"Our nurses are picking up extra days, but we are very cautious not to burn them out," said Monica Baranski, chief nursing officer for McLaren Bay Region. "We do have nurses going off daily, with symptoms and the minute they have symptoms we take them out of the workforce, and we do have some struggles with filling those positions."

Baranski said while they are doing good with nursing coverage, "nursing is at a high demand, it's difficult to get even agency nurses right now so we want to stay ahead of the game."

Also in some cases, retired nurses are coming in to help cover those open shifts.