WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- The American Nurses Association Tuesday called on Congress to pass legislation intended to ease the nationwide nursing shortage.
"Until we, as a nation, invest in and value nursing care, the nursing shortage will continue, because practicing nurses will continue to leave the workplace due to burn-out or retirement, and we will fail to attract and educate sufficient numbers of new nurses," said Barbara Blakeney, president of the ANA.
Blakeney urged Congress to pass the Quality Nursing Care Act, which mandates requiring the input of nurses when developing staffing systems and provides whistle-blower protections for nurses who speak out about inadequate nursing levels.
Blakeney noted that a study published Tuesday in Health Affairs showed that if hospitals increased nurse staffing, more than 6,700 patient deaths and millions of dollars could be saved each year.
