AFT HAILS NEW NURSE RECRUITING LAW
Union sees it as just a first step in addressing nurse shortage

Washington, DC – The American Federation of Teachers today applauded the signing into law of the Nurse Reinvestment Act, but called on lawmakers to address the underlying cause of the nurse shortage: poor working conditions and unsafe nurse-patient ratios.

The Nurse Reinvestment Act will provide scholarships and loan repayment programs for nursing students who agree to work for at least two years in a facility with a critical shortage of nurses.

"This legislation is just the first step to help ease the very serious and growing nurse shortage," said Sandra Feldman, president of the American Federation of Teachers/AFT Healthcare. "Along with recruiting, Congress needs to focus on retaining the nurses we already have and attract the more than 1 million new nurses our country will need by 2010."

Feldman noted that many nurses currently leave hospital positions after only a short time because of these working conditions and unsafe nurse-patient ratios. According to a recent nationwide AFT Healthcare survey, one in five registered nurses plans to leave the profession because of poor working conditions. Unless these conditions are addressed and improved, the trend will only worsen.

"Having successfully accomplished this first step, Congress should now turn its attention to the next step — enacting legislation that would ban mandatory overtime for nurses and establish appropriate nurse-patient ratios," said Feldman. "These two measures would help ensure that patients receive the best care possible from our healthcare professionals."

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