CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — While COVID-19 has been a reason nurses have been needed, Christus Spohn said they didn’t experience much turnover. Rather the need for nurses, comes from growth of this hospital operations. Not only that, but they're growing with the south side of Corpus Christi.
LaNell Scott, president of Christus Spohn Corpus Christi South Campus, said they are also experiencing more surgeries which require more nurses.
“With the recovery of the pandemic period, I think patients are beginning to feel comfortable now to come back to hospitals and to seek the care that they’ve been needing," she said.
Scott said they push the message that patients can get the advanced treatment they need here in Corpus Christi rather than driving to larger Texas cities.
“Has there been challenges? Yes, but we have multiple strategies to mitigate any type of risk to patients coming in to our organizations," said Ann Marie Madden, chief nurse executive for Christus Spohn.
To combat this nursing challenge, Christus Spohn has increased recruitment efforts talking to the local colleges and holding a nursing hiring event on Monday.
"I’ve spoken to some people over at Texas A&M (University - Corpus Christi) and at Del Mar (College) about having their third-year students do a rotation through all six of our surgical services department," said Debbie Faranthold, clinical director of Christus Spohn South operating room. "And I think that’s going to be really helpful.”
The hiring event aims to serve as a casual meet and greet for people to learn more of what the hospital has to offer. You could even get the application process started right away. Christus Spohn wants nurses to know there’s room for upward mobility.
“When a nurse starts at Christus Spohn, there’s ability to grow professionally or go into leadership, clinical expertise," Madden said. "So, I think that’s really what I’d like us to highlight during our event is that you’re not just coming in as a staffer you’re coming in as a very crucial member of a highly talented team.”
“With my team is I don’t want them to be stagnant, doing the same thing over and over and over again," said Faranthold. "I want them to learn different specialties. I want them to grow as people.”
The hiring event will be from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday at Katz 21 restaurant, 5702 Spohn Dr. South.
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