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Month after month I read about the shortage of nurses in Hawaii. Well, I now know why, and it is bizarre.
My granddaughter is a graduate nurse. She passed her license exam. Guess what — she cannot find a job. Why? Because she and most of her classmates do not have nursing experience. It appears she must enter a residency-like program to be qualified, unlike mainland hospitals that welcome inexperienced graduates at higher pay and lower living expenses. I laugh when I hear about Hawaii hospitals hiring travel nurses at absurd salaries.
The complaint of a nurse shortage in Hawaii rings hollow when we have qualified graduates applying for positions they can’t get because of some regulation or policy. Is it a professional protectionist situation, a liability problem or just a bunch of administrators covering themselves against some perceived risk? I suggest the latter.
Hire our Hawaii-educated nursing graduates.
Clark B. Morgan
Kailua
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