PRINTER'S NO. 1209
No. 85 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY BOSCOLA, KUKOVICH, ORIE, MUSTO, COSTA,
TARTAGLIONE, GREENLEAF, SCHWARTZ, BELL, ERICKSON, RHOADES,
EARLL AND MELLOW, JUNE 14, 2001
REFERRED TO PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE, JUNE 14, 2001
A RESOLUTION
1 Requesting the Department of Health to study the underlying
2 causes and impact of the shortage of nurses in this
3 Commonwealth.
4 WHEREAS, The 2.2 million actively employed nurses comprise
5 our nation's largest health care profession; and
6 WHEREAS, By 2020 the demand for nursing services in this
7 Commonwealth and nationwide will far outstrip the supply of
8 nursing services; and
9 WHEREAS, The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently listed
10 nursing as one of the top 40 growth professions for the next ten
11 years and projected a need for 2.6 million working registered
12 nurses by 2005, an additional 800,000 registered nurses; and
13 WHEREAS, The nation's registered nurse work force is aging
14 significantly, with the number of full-time equivalent
15 registered nurses per capita forecast to peak around 2007 and
16 decline steadily thereafter; and
17 WHEREAS, A 2000 Honesty and Ethics poll conducted by the
18 Gallup Organization indicated that for the second year in a row
1 the American public rated nursing as the field with the highest
2 standards of honesty and ethics, and 79% of Americans stated
3 that nurses have very high or high ethical standards; and
4 WHEREAS, According to a 1989 study published by the New
5 England Journal of Medicine, hospitals with more registered
6 nurses on staff and higher ratios of nurses to patients had 6.3
7 fewer deaths per 1,000 patients than hospitals without those
8 characteristics; and
9 WHEREAS, A January 2001 American Nurses Association Staffing
10 Survey reveals that registered nurses find deteriorating working
11 conditions are linked to decline in the quality of nursing care:
12 75% of nurses surveyed felt the quality of nursing care at the
13 facility in which they work declined over the past two years,
14 56% believed the time available for patient care decreased, more
15 than 40% said they would not feel comfortable having a family
16 member or someone close to them receive care in the facility in
17 which they work, and more than 54% stated they would not
18 recommend the profession to their children or their friends; and
19 WHEREAS, According to preliminary findings in "The National
20 Sample Survey of Registered Nurses," fewer young adults are
21 entering the nursing profession, with data for 2000 showing only
22 9.1% under 30 years of age, representing a decline from 25.1% in
23 1980; and
24 WHEREAS, The survey found that in 1980 40.5% of registered
25 nurses were under 35 years of age, compared to 18.3% in 2000;
26 and
27 WHEREAS, In addition the survey found that only 82% of
28 registered nurses are licensed in individual states to practice
29 their profession; and
30 WHEREAS, Health care experts are concerned that a national
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1 nursing shortage could become pervasive later in the decade,
2 just as the aging population requires more care; and
3 WHEREAS, A shortage of nurses presently plagues hospitals all
4 over the Philadelphia region; and
5 WHEREAS, The diversion of ambulances carrying individuals
6 with conditions that are not life-threatening was once primarily
7 a problem of urban hospitals, which have the most trauma and
8 low-income patients, but now the diversion problem is so
9 widespread in suburban and even rural areas that state health
10 officials from Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey have
11 recently discussed the issue in a conference call; and
12 WHEREAS, The reasons for increasingly frequent overloads at
13 hospitals reflect deep changes in the health care system and the
14 patient population; and
15 WHEREAS, A shortage of nurses affects hospital staffing; and
16 WHEREAS, Hospitals are not attracting enough new nurses or
17 maintaining the current nurse work force at a level to keep pace
18 with the growth in demand for nursing services; and
19 WHEREAS, A survey conducted 15 years ago by the American
20 Health Care Association found that over 50% of the responding
21 facilities had problems filling nursing vacancies; and
22 WHEREAS, The shortage of nurses is particularly acute in
23 long-term care settings where the main problem in attracting new
24 nurses to long-term care is centered around wages; therefore be
25 it
26 RESOLVED, That the Senate request the Department of Health to
27 conduct a study of the underlying causes and impact of the
28 shortage of nurses in this Commonwealth; and be it further
29 RESOLVED, That the Department of Health prepare a report with
30 findings and recommendations to be submitted to the Governor and
20010S0085R1209 - 3 -
1 the General Assembly within six months of the adoption of this
2 resolution.
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