Military, school and retired nurses could help shortage

The military and FEMA tents are on the standby, and the Guam Memorial Hospital is making moves to create a COVID Care Unit 4 for additional bed capacity, but there's something else we're really in desperate need of Dr. Felix Cabrera of the Governor's Physicians Advisory Group said. 

"What's really the strain right now is the staffing," he said. 

The group is hoping the military will be able to respond.

"That's one of the first asks as well how do we get additional critical care trained nurses because they're the ones who are the most valuable persons on the island or going to be coming to the island right now," Cabrera said.

Guam Memorial Hospital Administrator Lillian Posadas says she will be meeting with the governor's Chief of Staff Jon Jr. Calvo and GDOE Superintendent Jon Fernandez to talk about the nursing shortage. GDOE nurses were used to help support public health and the hospital during the first wave and now she's hoping they'll be able to help with the surge.


"If at all possible because there are some school nurses who currently working with us at the hospital on a part-time basis so if we can again get those five school nurses back into the hospital that will be a great help," she said. "And if any of those school nurses would like to get their skills and nursing practices that would be great we will mentor them, coach them, have them go side by side with our seasoned nurses so that they will be confident and be successful in getting their hospital skills back again."

With a nursing shortage not just on Guam but across the country, University of Guam Dean of Nursing Margaret Hattori Uchima is calling on retired nurses and other members of the health community to please join the fight not just against COVID but help backup the nurses currently on the front lines in need of rest.


"My fear is that they're tired, heck, I'm tired we are all tired and we need to provide them with as much support as possible if there are any nurses out there we did a call out in March, the Health Professional Licensing Board run by Zenia Pecina was asking for nurses that were retired, if your clinic is shut down we do need help public health needs help. "They're talking about other isolation facilities there are things that nurses that are not working right now that could help us out so I just really beg anybody who's not working now and could help to come out."

If you want to help, reach out to the Guam board of nurse examiners at 735-7408 or 9.