Nancy Pelosi: “I rise in support of H.R. 3487, the Nurse Reinvestment Act, and commend my colleague Representative Capps for her…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 3487, the Nurse Reinvestment Act, and commend my colleague Representative Capps for her leadership in addressing the current nursing shortage. Today, health care institutions across the nation are experiencing a crisis in nurse staffing. In my district, hospital emergency departments divert patients to other hospitals over 75 percent of the time because of inadequate nurses to staff the critical care units where most emergency admissions are transferred for care. In a recent meeting with San Francisco's emergency response leaders, the Director of Emergency Health Services cited inadequate nurse staffing for emergency departments, critical care units, and surgical units as a major problem. The shortage of educated, licensed Registered Nurses poses a significant threat to our nation's health care system, and we must act. The Nurse Reinvestment Act responds to this shortage by advertising and promoting the nursing profession to young people making career choices, broadening critical loan repayment programs and increasing the number of scholarships available for nursing students. Employers in hospitals, long-term care facilities are having difficulty finding experienced nurses, especially in emergency room and long term care. The safety and quality of care provided in the nation's health care facilities is directly related to the number and mix of direct care nursing staff.”