By Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson
Each year, from May 6 to May 12, we take time to thank the 3.1 million registered nurses for their dedication to patients and their families during National Nurses Week. For the past thirteen years, nursing has been voted as the most trusted and ethical profession in our country. Now is the time to recognize and thank these individuals for their indelible contributions.
In support of nurses throughout our nation, I will re-introduce a resolution to recognize National Nurses Week in the House of Representatives on May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. While recognizing and thanking nurses for their contributions to the health care system is very important to me, it is imperative that I take this opportunity to highlight the critical impending shortage of nurses our nation is predicted to experience.
The demand for nurses continues to grow as Baby Boomers age and as more individuals and families gain health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act. Projections indicate that by 2020, the United States will experience a shortage of more than 800,000 nurses. In short, the supply of nurses will not meet the demand for nurses. The growing nursing shortage results in fewer nurses who will be required to work longer hours and care for sicker patients. This not only compromises the quality of care that patients receive, it also contributes to more nurses leaving the profession or opting to work outside of the hospital.
As a lawmaker, I am fully committed to meaningful legislation that addresses the critical shortage of nurses. For example, the Affordable Care Act contains strategies for funding and retaining nurses by providing student loan repayment programs for nurses who are willing to work in facilities that experience a nursing shortage. An additional piece of the Affordable Care Act includes a Graduate Nursing Education Demonstration that provides funding for the clinical education of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) through an academic institution and hospital partnership. While provisions and programs like these are certainly a step in the right direction, we need permanent, comprehensive fixes that will boost the number of nurses in this country.
As we continue to struggle with a looming nursing shortage, I have re-introduced legislation in this Congress to provide the Chief Nurse Officer of the U.S. Public Health Service with a true leadership role as the National Nurse for Public Health. In order to retain the nurses that we have at this point, we must provide them with a visible nurse leader who can promote public health, prevention, and health literacy. While we recognize nurses and their contributions to society this week, we must also realize the potential that the profession has to lead a nationwide shift to wellness.
If you haven’t already, please take a moment to thank and recognize any nurse in your life. Each nurse is important to our society.
