Nurses Rally on Capitol Hill, Call for Legislation to Ease Nationwide Shortage

Rallying on the steps of the Capitol, scores of nurse members of the Service Employees International Union May 9 called on Congress to address the nation's nursing shortage by enacting legislation encouraging nurse recruitment and banning mandatory overtime. The nurses were joined by several Democratic lawmakers, who pledged to support efforts to remedy a situation that nurses say has reached critical proportions and is expected to grow even worse as the nursing population ages and baby boomers retire. "Chronic understaffing and mandatory overtime are threatening quality care for patients and driving talented, experienced nurses out of our profession," Diane Sosne, president of SEIU Local 1199NW in Seattle, said. Standing above hundreds of white shoes placed on the Capitol steps to symbolize the shortage, the nurses said that increased duties often overwhelm them and increase the likelihood of medical errors. In conjunction with National Nurses Week, the SEIU released a survey of nurses showing that 54% say that more than half the medical errors they report are directly caused by inadequate staffing.

Reinvesting in Nurses
At a May 10 press conference, several lawmakers will speak in support of the Nurse Reinvestment Act (S. 706), a bill intended to promote nurse recruitment and training. Sponsored in the House by Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) and in the Senate by Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) -- both of whom spoke at yesterday's rally -- the measure would establish a $50 million per year National Nurse Service Corps that would provide scholarships to potential nurses in exchange for a commitment to work in a public or not-for-profit hospital deemed to have a critical shortage of nurses. The bill would also establish outreach programs beginning in primary schools and loans and grants for nursing students through the completion of their doctoral studies. In addition, the measure would raise federal reimbursements for nurse training. "This bill will draw more people into the profession and help get them the training they need," said Capps, one of the three registered nurses in the House (John Kastellec, Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 5/10).