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June 14, 2001
ROCKEFELLER HOLDS HEARING TO ADDRESS IMMINENT HEALTH CARE CRISIS
-- Chairman Expresses Concern over Nurse Shortage at VA Hospitals --
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), the recently appointed Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, today held a hearing to address the nurse shortage facing Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals, nursing homes, and clinics. Senator Rockefeller scheduled the hearing to focus on the conditions that have created this critical shortage and to determine what VA -- the largest employer of nurses in the United States -- can do to address the problem.
The Committee heard testimony from representatives of nurses associations, VA officials from Central Headquarters, and VA nurses and managers with innovative nursing programs around the country.
"The problems facing the VA health care system -- including funding constraints and nurse shortages -- in many ways mirror the problems facing health care organizations nationwide. The situation is magnified within VA because their workforce, on average, is closer to retirement," Rockefeller said. "We must address this situation before we have a severe health care crisis on our hands."
The nurse shortage has already begun to affect hospitals around the country, forcing them to rely on mandatory overtime which results in unplanned and significantly longer working hours. This leads to nurses’ fatigue and burnout, which can compromise the health and safety of the patients in their care. Recruiting and retaining nurses is particularly hard for VA, because it does not have the luxury of offering monetary incentives like large signing bonuses.
"We must do what we can to foster good working environments for our nurses, to recruit the most qualified to VA, and to encourage more enrollment in nursing schools," Rockefeller said, adding, "Our veterans deserve the best care possible, and we can’t let them down."
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