Is the nurse in? Solutions to Oregon’s nurse staffing crisis
By Stephanie Gapper
Nurses are facing an unprecedented staffing shortage that affects every Oregonian.
With every COVID-19 surge, hospital executives wrung their hands over dwindling hospital bed numbers. As a direct care nurse, I worried too. I warned my family and friends to stay safe and stay out of the hospital because I knew how dire things were. But my primary concern wasn’t bed numbers; it’s the dwindling number of skilled nurses at patients’ bedside.
Beds are tracked because they’re easy to count; but during COVID-19, nurses have treated patients in waiting room chairs and hallways — even in elevators. The truth is Oregon’s healthcare system doesn’t rely on hospital beds. It’s built on the backs of frontline healthcare professionals working at the bedside — primarily nurses who outnumber doctors in Oregon 3 to 1 and who are the largest group of healthcare professionals in the United States.
When Oregonians don’t receive healthcare, get less care, or receive lower-quality care, it’s usually because of a lack of nurses. And our nurse numbers should worry us all.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that by December 2022, Americans will be short 1.1 million nurses. Oregon is facing the same shortfall. This staffing crisis didn’t happen overnight, and it will take time to resolve. But we can start laying the groundwork now with Oregon House Bill 4003.
This crucial bill, sponsored by state Rep. Rachel Prusak, includes innovative workforce solutions like expanding the Oregon Wellness Program, which already offers free mental health support for Oregon doctors, dentists, physician assistants and nurse practitioners. Allowing registered nurses to access it too will help retain current nurses by giving them tools and support to cope with healthcare’s unique challenges and continue caring for their communities.
The bill also creates a nurse internship program to augment the current workforce and give nursing students practical experience; offers out-of-state nurses more time to work in Oregon before committing to move here; and commissions a study to identify other long-term solutions to Oregon’s nursing shortage.
These changes will make a difference, but we can’t legislate our way out of our nurse staffing crisis.
Oregon’s hospitals need to do their part too.
Throughout the pandemic, hospital executives have called nurses heroes while paying substitute traveling nurses three to four times more. In fact, most executives haven’t lifted a finger to meaningfully improve pay or benefits for permanent, local staff. The frontline nurses lauded in hospital press releases are being left out in the cold. Are we surprised a nurse might be tempted to travel to a place where hospital executives show they value them?
Nonprofit hospitals have a responsibility to invest in local communities and offer fair wages and benefits to help recruit and retain the nurses Oregonians rely on. Anything less is a dangerous risk to all Oregonians’ safety.
There’s a lot the Legislature can do to address Oregon’s long-term nurse staffing crisis, but we need hospitals to show they value the knowledge, expertise and skills Oregon’s nurses bring to the bedside today to continue providing outstanding care for our communities during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stephanie Gapper, RN, BSN, is a member of the Oregon Nurses Association and a registered nurse in an ambulatory specialty clinic at Oregon Health & Science University. She is a member of ONA’s Cabinet on Health Policy, which establishes ONA’s legislative priorities, researches healthcare issues and develops labor and health policy positions.
