Wilton Villager
By JILL BODACH
jbodach@wiltonvillager.com
NORWALK — With the current nursing shortage predicted to worsen over the next decade and peak at the same time thousands of baby boomers are aging, care hospitals across the country are required to find new ways to fill staff vacancies.
No longer can hospitals rely solely on U.S.- trained nurses to fill the slots that will be left due to retirement and other absences. Experts estimate that by 2012 the nation will need 1 million new or replacement nurses.
Norwalk Hospital is part of a national trend to hire foreign-educated nurses to fill vacancies in U.S. hospitals. Over the last four years approximately 60 nurses, primarily from India, have been hired by Norwalk Hospital, said Jan Mola, executive director of ambulatory and emergency nursing services.
"International recruitment is not our primary recruitment but that is a significant number of nurses, so it's a pretty big deal," Mola.
Recruitment can take up to two years, due mostly to the immigration process which can take as many as eight months to complete in some cases, said Mary Nolan, vice president of nursing at Norwalk Hospital.
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