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Older people require considerably more healthcare services than the young. Nearly 80 million baby boomers are currently entering our Medicare system, bringing their health problems and high healthcare expectations with them. Nursing is the nation's largest healthcare profession, with about 3 million registered nurses nationwide. Even so, for years there has been a shortage of professional nurses to staff hospitals, retirement facilities and private practices. It is estimated that 11 million new nurses will be needed in the upcoming years to avoid a further shortage. The reasons for our nursing shortage include an aging nurse population and not enough young recruits. Employment opportunities for nurses are projected to grow at a faster rate (15%) than all other occupations from 2016 through 2026.

The average age of our nurse population is 52 and many are close to retirement. The nurses working in today’s hospitals are short-staffed, extremely overworked – even before our current pandemic - and many report they are dissatisfied with their job. It is not uncommon for nurses to be “asked” to work 12-hour shifts, sometimes longer. The shortage of nurses is causing some emergency rooms to redirect patients to more distant hospitals. Healthcare advocates claim these conditions result in longer waiting times for treatment, more mistakes by health care providers and more patient deaths. Studies have shown that nurse shortages contribute to nearly a quarter of all unexpected problems that result in death or injury to hospital patients each year.

Proposed Legislation: Reintroduction of S.1399 - Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2019
Prospective Sponsor: Sen. Jeff Merkley (OR)

I oppose forming current nursing shortage policy and wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Leader Charles Schumer (NY).
I support modifying and reauthorizing through 2024 grant programs that fund nursing workforce development and retention by: 1.) Requiring grants to be used to develop high-quality nursing services in areas that have, or are projected to have, a nursing shortage. 2.) Reauthorizing grant programs for nursing education, loan repayment, and geriatric care training. 3.) Evaluating and reporting on the nursing education loan repayment program, including the methods of payment, existing and recommended oversight functions, the number of nurses participating in the program, and the type of facility at which participants are serving. And wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Sen. Jeff Merkley (OR) and/or to an advocate group currently working with this issue.

Winning Option »» No issues were voted

I support modifying and reauthorizing through 2024 grant programs that fund nursing workforce development and retention by: 1.) Requiring grants to be used to develop high-quality nursing services in areas that have, or are projected to have, a nursing shortage. 2.) Reauthorizing grant programs for nursing education, loan repayment, and geriatric care training. 3.) Evaluating and reporting on the nursing education loan repayment program, including the methods of payment, existing and recommended oversight functions, the number of nurses participating in the program, and the type of facility at which participants are serving. And wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Sen. Jeff Merkley (OR) and/or to an advocate group currently working with this issue.