While numerous hospitals around the city are raising pay rates and establishing scholarships to attract more nurses and students to nursing schools, the nursing professionals say these actions do not cover even half the measures that need to be implemented in order to establish nursing once again as the desirable choice of profession.
The current shortage of nurses in direct care is the result of systematic downsizing of the nursing staffs by healthcare employers over the past 10 years, according to the New York State Nurses Assoc (NYSNA). In a frenzy of competition for managed care contracts, companies running hospitals focused on the bottom line without paying much mind to the impact their practices made on patient care. As a result, employers forced experienced and highly paid nurses out through layoffs, early retirement buyouts and attrition.
"This had a snowballing effect on the entire industry," Nancy Webber, associate director of communications at the nysna, told The Queens Courier. "Nurses that remained were worked to the point where they couldnt handle stress any longer. Those who were let go were upset and disillusioned with the way things were. Both groups discouraged their friends and relatives who may have been interested in entering the nursing field." According to a recent survey by the American Nurses Assoc., more than half of the countrys registered nurses would not encourage others to enter the profession.
As a result, admission rates to the states nursing schools dropped precipitously. In 1999, the number of new nursing school entrants amounted to only 78 percent of that in 1996, according to the New York State Dept. of Education.
"People would look at treatment, working conditions, salary, workload and decide to go [into a different professional field]," Webber said.
The NYSNAs active lobbying resulted in the passage of the Whistleblower Protection Act in March of this year and the nursing home staffing legislation this past June in the State Assembly. The association continues to lobby for the staffing regulations and better working conditions in state and city hospitals.
"NYSNA believes that the professional nurse has the right to participate in the decision-making process affecting the nurse as an employee and as a professional," said the associations recent statement. "Wages, benefits and conditions of employment have a major influence upon the quality of care the nurse delivers."
The Whistleblower Protection Act allows nurses to report improper operational practices at their workplace without the fear of being persecuted or losing their job.
"During some legislative hearing back in 1996 regarding the improper usage of unlicensed personnel by some hospitals, some nurses who wanted to come in and testify were blocked, harassed and in some cases dismissed by their employers," Webber said.
"The committee conducting the hearing then decided that if a nurse cannot even safely come before a legislative panel to testify, something must be done about it."
Companies running the hospitals, however, say the recent legislations do not provide the solution to the nurse shortage.
"The mandatory staffing legislation is a definite no-no," Ken Brown, president and CEO of Margaret Teitz Center in Jamaica, told The Queens Courier. "It is a difficult and invasive way to go about solving the problem."
Brown explained that the increase in hiring of new nurses without the necessary federal and state funding would mean the across-the-board fall-off of benefits and salaries for all the nurses.
"Hiring excessive number of nurses will not solve anything if the legislature does not come up with Medicaid dollars for increased ratios," Brown said.
Brown said one issue that the NYSNA, the Greater New York Hospital Assoc. and the Local 1199 nurses union ignore is the quality of the nurses presently available on the job market.
"Quality is a big issue," Brown said. "There are plenty of people out there that would provide care, but the level of their qualification and expertise leaves something to be desired."
Webber dismissed Browns claim of insufficient funding as an excuse to hit the taxpayers pockets for more cash.
"Its all a matter of priorities. Hospitals have to prioritize better," Webber said. "They complain of being short of money, yet hospital CEOs are getting their annual salary increases. Hospitals choose to spend the money provided to them in some way other than improving the nursing corps. There is no guarantee the additional funds, if provided, will be applied to resolve the current problem."
Webber added the next ten years will be critical for the future of the profession and the industry of medical care.
"The average age of state nurses is 45," Webber said. "In ten years or so, most of them will begin retiring. Some are likely to retire even before that. If we dont have a good corps of nursing school graduates ready to replace them, our problems would only grow."
Margaret Teitz Center will host a coalition meeting of Local 1199/SEIU, Greater New York Hospital Assoc. and the New York State Legislature on Aug. 16.
