Nurses

Finding and getting medical care can be a challenge, especially for older people in rural areas. To help fill in these gaps, over a dozen towns in Vermont and New Hampshire have something called a community nurse. Some towns think this saves money by limiting unnecessary 911 calls and hospital trips.

Nursing staff at Vermont's largest hospital will receive a 23% pay increase over the next three years. The agreement averts a strike that could have cost the medical center over $10 million.

The University of Vermont Medical Center is preparing to bring in about 500 nurses to work there next week. That's after the union representing around 2,000 nurses at the hospital issued a strike notification Monday.

The shortage of nurses in Vermont has reached a crisis point. Sen. Bernie Sanders says the state needs to add 9,000 nurses to the workforce over the next seven years. This hour, we talk with a nurse, a hospital administrator and a nursing school teacher about how they’re addressing the shortage. And we’ll look at how travel nurses are filling the gaps.

Southwestern Vermont Medical Center is the first hospital in Vermont to offer an accredited one-year residency program to its new nurses.

In areas overwhelmed by COVID cases, hospitals must rely on traveling nurses to operate ICUs. Hospitals pay a premium for that temporary help, while also struggling to keep their staff nurses happy.

Jinny Savolainen was looking for a sense of purpose when the pandemic hit Leverett, Mass. "Just when things seemed so dark, I found some light in the words of the people all around me," she said.

Meet three young nurses caring for Vermonters during the pandemic. Plus: the senate’s police reform bill, COVID-19 cases, and sweet, sweet maple…

Young health care workers' early years are being defined by a pandemic that wasn’t part of their classes or in their textbooks. VPR spoke with three…

The Vermont Secretary of State's Office of Professional Regulation will ask lawmakers to pass legislation next year that allows Vermont to join the Nurse…