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Nursing shortage forces Genesis to hire from outside the U.S.

Genesis Health System are now looking around the globe to fill their nursing positions. There are about 100-150 open registered nursing positions at Genesis and...

Genesis Health System are now looking around the globe to fill their nursing positions.

There are about 100-150 open registered nursing positions at Genesis and the company doesn't have enough applicants to fill them.

It's why they're using an international recruitment company called O'Grady Peyton International to find nurses from other countries.

"We have been talking to recruits from the Philippines, Great Britain, Australia, and other countries as well," said Ken Croken of Genesis.

A report done by the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects there will be 1.05 million open positions for registered nurses across the country by 2022.

There are multiple reasons for the shortage in nursing in the U.S. research shows nursing school enrollment isn't growing fast enough to meet the projected demand, and there is a shortage of nursing school faculty in nursing programs across the country.

Another reason for the shortage is that a significant segment of the nursing workforce is nearing retirement age.

Genesis officials said their care is still the same, but the shortage of nurses does create challenges. They also said the international nurses won't take any jobs away from nurses here and will be paid the same amount as other nurses in the company.

"When we're short like that it normally makes the staff work a little harder and pull some overtime," said Annette Holst, a Nursing Staff Development Specialist at Genesis.

"They're staying longer, working shifts they did not intend, and stretching themselves," said Croken. "That's not a long-term solution."

News 8 reached out to Unity Point Health who said while they aren't recruiting internationally, they are heavily recruiting nurses right now.

If you are interested in becoming a registered nurse, Genesis is holding a job fair on Thursday, October 1, 2015 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. The job fair will be at their West Campus on 1401 West Central Park in Davenport in the West Sunderbruch Room.

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