One of the primary forces behind efforts to ease health care immigration rules is the persistent shortage of health care workers in the US. The shortage has gotten so severe that many believe that it will be impossible to ease the crisis without increasing the numbers of foreign nurses, doctors, therapists, technicians, nursing assistants and others from abroad. This month, we have created a new feature that will focus on providing the latest news regarding the health worker shortage. We will bring you the latest information on the shortage itself as well as what efforts are taking place to address the shortage whether the solution be immigration-related or not.

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Proposed Nurse Reinvestment Act Is Too Restrictive, Critics Say

Recent legislation introduced in Congress entitled the Nurse Reinvestment Act allows nurses to receive financial assistance by way of nursing school loan reimbursement by the government. However, critics say that this law is too restrictive because it does not allow nurses that work in for-profit hospitals to pay back their nursing loans to the government and only allows these benefits for nurses that work in non-profit hospitals. These critics state that the nursing shortage hurts both for-profit and non-profit institutions.

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Health Service Corps Tax-Exempt Loan Repayment Proposal

Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), proposed legislation to exempt the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) loan repayments from taxes. The purpose of this legislation is to increase the number of loan repayment awards to healthcare providers and increase the access to healthcare in medically underserved areas. Currently loan repayments made to NHSC are considered taxable income.

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Los Angeles Hospital to Fund Nursing Program Expansion

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center of Los Angeles (CSMC) announced that it will create a partnership with California State University (CSU) and fund an expansion of the CSU nursing program by 20 students in the next 3 years. CSMC will provide the nurse students with clinical rotations and training in specialty and critical care. This program was created in order to expand the supply of registered nurses and especially nurses with specialized training.

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Nurses Rally Against Mandatory Overtime in D.C.

Senator John Kerry (D-MA) called on Congress to pass the Safe Nursing and Patient Care Act which would limit the use of mandatory overtime for nurses, except in cases of emergency. A rally held in Washington D.C. against mandatory overtime was organized by nurse unions.

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Nurses Rally for Staffing Ratios in N.J.

Members of a nurses’ labor union picketed in New Jersey in favor of legislation that would mandate nurse-to-patient staffing ratios in healthcare facilities in the state. Legislation mandating nurse-to-patient staffing ratios was passed earlier this year in California. Such legislation is expected only to increase the nurse shortage in the country.

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Rhode Island to Promote Nursing Careers and Loan Program

Rhode Island Lt. Gov. Charles Fogerty introduced a new advertising campaign to promote nursing careers, in order to address the nursing shortage. The campaign also introduced a new no-interest student loan program. This program that was approved last year by Rhode Island legislators grants interest free loans for the first four years of loan repayment to about 250 graduates per year. Those eligible for loan repayment must become licensed registered nurses and work for a Rhode Island healthcare facility. These measures were created to address the severe nurse shortage in the state which is projected to increase.

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Physician Shortage in Tennessee

The Tennessee Health Professions Demand Assessment Advisory Group released a report citing the need for physician recruitment and retention due to insufficient access to primary and specialty care physicians in Tennessee’s rural areas. It stated that Tennessee needs an extensive recruitment and retention program to lure the healthcare workforce to work in the state, and to better compete with other states for that workforce. The survey concluded that hospitals and healthcare facilities needed over 300 primary care physicians and specialists. Most of the facilities surveyed stated that it typically takes over six months to recruit a physician and sometimes more than a year.

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House Democrats To Introduce Mandatory Staffing Ratios in Nursing Homes

Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, Rep. Brad Carson of Oklahoma and Rep. Henry Waxman of California are to introduce the Nursing Home Staffing Improvement Act of 2002. This legislation would require mandatory staffing ratios in all nursing homes receiving Medicare or Medicaid funding. The bill would mandate that nursing home residents receive between 4.1 and 4.85 hours of nursing care each day. The legislation follows a recent report by the Bush Administration that determined that nine out of ten nursing homes lack adequate staff to care for residents. The bill would also increase federal Medicaid payments to the states to help them meet these new staffing ratios.

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North Carolina Study to Suggest Nurse Retention Strategies to Deal with Nursing Shortage

A study by the North Carolina Center for Nursing (NCCN) finds an effective strategy for fighting the nursing shortage is to reduce the turnover rates for staff nurses. It saves the facility large turnover costs and also provides more professional and experienced caregivers. Nurses surveyed stated that good compensation (pay and benefits), a positive work environment (including good relations with physicians), flexible scheduling, responsive management, adequate staffing levels, good continuing education opportunities and good advancement opportunities influence nurses’ job satisfaction and retention.

The study concluded that in order to address the nursing shortage health care facilities must examine the quality of their work environment for nurses and modify their current policies to suit the nurses’ values.

The report “Retaining Staff Nurses in North Carolina” is available online at: http://www.nursenc.org/research/retain_staff.pdf

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Healthcare Professionals’ Shortage in Maryland Hospitals Increases

Maryland hospitals recently reported an increase in vacancy rates for registered nurses for the third consecutive year. A survey by the Maryland Hospital Association reports a vacancy rate of 15.6 percent in 2001, which means that more than 2,000 RN positions are vacant in Maryland hospitals. The vacancy rate has been climbing steadily for three years, from 11 percent in 1999 to 13.9 percent in 2000.

The report also shows that 18 of the 42 healthcare job categories have vacancy rates of 10 percent or higher. Radiography and diagnostic imaging jobs had high vacancy rates, with radiation therapy technologists at 21 percent and radiographers at 14.6 percent.

Some of the reasons for the increase in nurses’ vacancy rates are that many healthcare workers retire and there are not enough nurses and other healthcare professionals entering the workforce.

Suggestions that have been made to address the shortage include economic incentives such as tax credits, low interest loans and scholarships, enhanced benefits packages and building relationships with schools to recruit health professionals.

The report is available online at http://www.mdhospitals.org/