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Nurse Leader Appeals to Congressional Subcommittee to Enact Pro-Healthcare Workforce Policies

Analysis  |  By Carol Davis  
   May 17, 2023

'It is our job to support them,' AHA/AONL executive Robyn Begley testifies to U.S. House legislators.

Healthcare workforce challenges are a “national emergency” that demands immediate attention from all levels of government, healthcare leader Robyn Begley, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, testified Wednesday before a U.S. House subcommittee.

Begley, senior vice president of workforce and chief nursing officer of the American Hospital Association (AHA) and chief executive officer of the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL), offered policy solutions to healthcare’s increasing challenges before the U.S. House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Health and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation for their hearing on the healthcare workforce.

“Hospitals and health systems exist and can continually care for patients because of the physicians, nurses, technologists, supply chain professionals, facilities management specialists, and the many other professionals who work in them,” Begley told the committee.

“We cannot care for patients without these caregivers and team members,” she said. “They are always there ready to care, and it is our job to support them.”

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals were already facing significant challenges making it difficult to sustain, build, and retain the healthcare workforce, Begley testified.

She informed committee members that nearly 900,000 nurses—almost one-fifth of the workforce—intend to leave due to stress, burnout, and retirement and that nursing schools turned away more than 78,000 qualified applications in 2022 due to lack of faculty and training sites.

The number of students in entry-level baccalaureate nursing programs decreased by 1.4% in 2022, ending a 20-year period of enrollment growth in programs designed to prepare new RNs, according to new data, she testified.

To counteract the troubling numbers, Congress should consider several polices to help sustain and support the nation’s workforce through protecting, recruiting, revitalizing, and diversifying it, Begley said:

Protect healthcare workers from violence: “Congress should enact H.R. 2584, the Safety from Violence for Healthcare Employees (SAVE) Act,” she said. “This legislation would provide federal protections for healthcare workers against violence and intimidation, as well as provide grant funding to hospitals for violence prevention programs, coordination with state and local law enforcement, and physical plant improvements such as enhanced technology.”

Continue to provide grant funding support to well-being focused initiatives: “Thanks to the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act of 2022, the healthcare field received important funding for projects that help support well-being in their workplaces,” Begley said.

“We encourage Congress to provide additional support for projects and collaborative efforts to scale successful practices on well-being across the healthcare field,” she said, “especially those efforts that link well-being with hospital efforts to improve quality and the patient experience.”

Address nursing shortages by investing in nursing education and faculty: The Future Advancement of Academic Nursing Act would provide those vital resources to support the needs of nursing students, help retain and hire diverse faculty, modernize nursing education infrastructure, and create and expand clinical education opportunities,” she said.

Provide scholarships and loan repayment: “Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development programs such as Nurse Corps help bolster the advanced practice and nursing workforce by addressing the shortage of nursing faculty and clinical sites, as well as funding nursing schools located in rural and underserved communities,” Begley testified.

“The CARES Act reauthorized these critical programs through 2024. Reauthorizing and funding these programs remain a necessity,” she said. “Congress should ensure nursing students are eligible to receive such benefits to attend nursing schools regardless of the educational institution’s tax status and ensure parity of treatment for hospitals and their workers regardless of tax status in federal health programs, including those enumerated in the Public Health Service Act.”

Reauthorize and increase funding for the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), a program that awards scholarships and assists graduates of health professions programs with loan repayment in return for an obligation to provide healthcare services in underserved rural and urban areas.

“The AHA supports the Strengthening Community Care Act of 2023 (H.R. 2559) to extend funding for community health centers and the NHSC,” she said. “The NHSC is a critically important program for both giving clinicians support to offset the substantial cost of their education, while also incentivizing practice in underserved rural and urban health professional shortage areas across the country.”

Increase graduate medical education (GME) slots: “Address physician shortages, including shortages of behavioral health providers, by increasing the number of residency slots eligible for Medicare funding,” she said. “AHA supports the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2023, S. 1302, a bipartisan bill that would lift caps on Medicare-funded residency slots.”

Support foreign-trained healthcare workers. “Support expedition of visas for foreign-trained nurses and continuation of visa waivers for physicians in medically underserved areas,” she said.

Investigate travel nurse agency practices: “We urge Congress to direct the Government Accountability Office to study the business practices of travel nurse staffing agencies during the pandemic, including potential price gouging and excessive profits, increased margins that agencies retain for themselves, impact of increased reliance on travel nurses in rural areas, and how these practices contribute to workforce shortages across the country,” Begley said.

“We cannot care for patients without these caregivers and team members. They are always there ready to care, and it is our job to support them.”

Carol Davis is the Nursing Editor at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.


KEY TAKEAWAYS

Healthcare workforce challenges demand immediate attention from all levels of government, healthcare leader Robyn Begley said.

Begley asked lawmakers to consider several policies to support the nation’s healthcare workforce.

Begley encouraged Congress to enact the Safety from Violence for Healthcare Employees (SAVE) Act.


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