Three hours spent on hold. That's how long Courtney Gramm waited one day, all so that she might get her license from the state of California to work as a nurse.
That morning was just a snapshot from a long ordeal. Gramm waited seven months for her nurse practitioner license at a time when COVID-19 cases were skyrocketing across the U.S. and hospitals were desperate to keep nurses on staff.
Her story is a familiar one for nurses throughout the country. Nursing boards, meant as a safeguard, have become an obstacle, preventing qualified nurses from getting into the workforce for months when basic vetting should take only weeks.
