The American Nurses Association (ANA) urges the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to declare the current and unsustainable nurse staffing shortage facing our country a national crisis. In a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, the ANA calls for the Administration to acknowledge and take concrete action to address the current crisis-level nursing staffing shortage that puts nurse’s ability to care for patients in jeopardy.
ANA, who represents the interests of the nation’s 4.2 million nurses, calls on the Administration to deploy these policy solutions to address the dire nurse staffing shortage crisis. The department must:
- Convene stakeholders to identify short- and long-term solutions to staffing challenges to face the demand of the COVID-19 pandemic response, ensure the nation’s health care delivery system is best equipped to provide quality care for patients, and prepared for the future challenges.
- Work with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on methodologies and approaches to promote payment equity for nursing services and remove unnecessary regulatory barriers to APRN practice.
- Educate the nation on the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine to provide resources for widespread administration of the COVID-19 vaccine and any subsequent boosters.
- Sustain a nursing workforce that meets current and future staffing demands to ensure access to care for patients and prioritize the mental health of nurses and other health professionals.
- Provide additional resources including recruitment and retention incentives that will attract students to the nursing profession and retain skilled nurses to the demands of patient care.
ANA President Ernest Grant has stated, “The nation’s health care delivery systems are overwhelmed, and nurses are tired and frustrated as the persistent pandemic rages on with no end in sight. Nurses alone cannot solve this longstanding issue and it is not our burden to carry. If we truly value the immeasurable contributions of the nursing workforce, then it is imperative that HHS utilize all available authorities to address the issue.”
Issue:
As the pandemic lingers on, it has become a challenge to recruit and retain nurse staffing for most facilities across the country; therefore, leadership should discuss innovative ways to recruit and retain staff. Adequate, competent nursing staff are vital to delivery of high-quality care that all residents should receive. The facility’s emergency preparedness plan should also be reviewed to determine what steps may need to be taken if staffing levels become critically low. Insufficient nursing staff or nurses that are not fully competent in delivering safe patient care may result in a violation of F725 Sufficient Nursing Staff and F726 Competent Nursing Staff and could result in citations and fines for noncompliance. Detailed information is available in the Med-Net Corporate Compliance and Ethics Manual, Chapter 1, Compliance and Ethics Program.
Discussion Points:
- Review your new employee orientation process and determine if changes should be made to help retain employees. Discuss with human resources the current tactics that are being used to recruit new employees. In addition, review nursing policies and procedures to ensure that the procedures are comprehensive and competency-based. Update as needed.
- Train the appropriate staff on the importance of new employee orientation. Also train all nursing staff on your policies and procedures for nursing skills, and ensure that each nurse demonstrates competency in providing care. Ensure that nurses have access to the nursing policies and procedures for easy reference. Ask staff if there are areas within their responsibilities where they would like to receive additional training, and provide the requested instruction. Document that these trainings occurred and file in each employee’s education file.
- Periodically audit to ensure that new staff orientation is complete to ensure competency of the employees filling each role. In addition, periodically conduct audits to ensure that each nurse’s competency is evaluated upon hire and at least annually thereafter per your facility’s policy.
