A prescription for our nursing shortage
By Jim Sensenbrenner
8/11/08

Nurses have always been the friendly faces providing comfort and rehabilitation while we and our loved ones recover in the hospital or healthcare facility. However, over the past decade, the numbers of nurses in the US have been dwindling. According to the American Hospital Association, there are presently over 116,000 vacancies for registered nurses. By 2014, that number is estimated to be 1.2 million. This shortage not only creates a crunch on hospitals and other facilities trying to administer care, but has also contributed to nearly 24% of hospital deaths and injuries.

Dubbed the nursing shortage crisis, this phenomenon has drawn the attention of Congress, where I cosponsored a bill with Florida Representative Robert Wexler. Known as the Emergency Nursing Supply Relief Act, HR 5924 will help us solve our nursing crisis in two major ways. Number one, it will provide immediate relief for hospitals facing shortages by increasing the number of temporary work visas available for foreign-trained nurses. Currently, there are very few visas available for these nurses. The second, and long-term goal of this bill, is to help universities educate more American nurses to fill the vacancies in our workforce. This assistance would come in the form of a grant program that would increase the quality and quantity of our nursing schools, and in turn, increase our number of domestically trained nurses. The money for this grant would be raised by charging employers $1500 for every visa they acquire to sponsor an immigrant nurse.

There are a number of factors that contribute to our shortage of American registered nurses. Universities are not able to accommodate the large demand of students wanting to enter the nursing profession, and there is a shortage of nursing instructors. Additional challenges include non-competitive salaries for nursing educators, the length of time required for a nursing education, and the rapid retirement rate of current nurses. By addressing these factors, the Nurse Supply Relief Act will especially help Wisconsin's 5th district by providing nurses for shortages in our major hospitals such as Community Memorial , Elmbrook Memorial, and Oconomowoc Memorial.

It is imperative for Members of Congress to work together to supply our healthcare providers with the nurses they need, both now and in the future. After all, healthcare is one of the most important industries we have. In order to ensure hospitals continue to keep us and our families safe and healthy, we need to be willing to supply them with the necessary tools.

-- Sensenbrenner, R-Menomonee Falls, represents Wisconsin's Fifth Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

http://foreign-nurse.lefora.com/2008/08/14/hr-5924-a-prescription-for-our-nursing-shortage/page1/