Source: Health Impact News

by Brian Shilhavy
Editor, Health Impact News

The United States is now facing a critical nursing shortage in hospitals as many nurses are quitting rather than complying with COVID vaccine mandates, or they are being fired.

We have also documented several stories this year where nurses have died or been crippled from the COVID shots.

Hospitals will soon be “overwhelmed” not because of outbreaks of COVID, but because the critical care staffing is being severely depleted by the COVID shots.

Massive Nurse Shortage Hits Houston—Weeks After 150 Unvaccinated Nurses and Hospital Workers Fired

Houston hospitals have “reached a breaking point” amid a COVID-19 outbreak, which struck weeks after 150 hospital workers were fired by Houston Methodist hospital, one of several hospitals struggling.

by Jon Miltimore
Fee.org

Excerpts:

Jennifer Bridges knew what was coming when her director at Houston Methodist hospital called her up in June to inquire about her vaccination status.

Bridges, a 39-year-old registered nurse, responded “absolutely not” when asked if she was vaccinated or had made an effort to get vaccinated. She was terminated on the spot.

“We all knew we were getting fired,” Bridges, 39, told CBS News. “We knew unless we took that shot to come back, we were getting fired today. There was no ifs, ands or buts.”

Bridges was one of more than 150 hospital workers fired by Houston Methodist hospital.

“All last year, through the COVID pandemic, we came to work and did our jobs,” said Kara Shepherd, a labor and delivery nurse who joined Bridges and other workers in an unsuccessful lawsuit. “We did what we were asked. This year, we’re basically told we’re disposable.”

‘Please Send Help Now’

Shepherd and her colleagues may be disposable in the eyes of hospital administrators, but they are perhaps not as easily replaced as she or Houston Methodist thought.

Two months after firing unvaccinated hospital staff, Houston Methodist is one of several area hospitals experiencing a severe shortage of medical personnel. Media reports say hospitals have “reached a breaking point” because of a flood of COVID-19 cases.

In an editorial published Tuesday, the Houston Chronicle said the 25-county hospital area that includes Houston had more patients in hospital beds—more than 2,700—than at any point in 2021. News reports make it clear that hospitals are struggling to keep up.

Nurse shortage at Houston hospitals has reached a breaking point as patients wait hours for care

Medical tents outside of Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital are ready to accept COVID-19 patients immediately, but the beds are empty because there are not enough nurses.

https://www.khou.com/embeds/video/285-6990a3b2-4d6c-4390-b3c4-21d5492a407d/iframe

KHOU-11, a local news station, says medical tents have been erected outside of Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital but are vacant because of a shortage of nurses.

“Please send help now,” said Dr. George Williams (depicted in main photo [BELOW]), chief ICU medical officer for LBJ Hospital.

Read the full story at Fee.org.

RELATED VIDEO:

San Diego Nurse Resigns over COVID Vaccine Mandate

San Diego Nurse testifies at County Board meeting announcing she had just quit the day before over COVID vaccine mandates, joining nurses nationwide and creating nursing shortages.