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Nursing Commission Issues Report on Nursing
Crisis Echoes MNA Concerns, Calls for Legislation to Mandate
Staffing and End to MOT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1) Letter from the Chairmen
2) Commission members, legislative action & hearing
locations
4) Statement of the
Problem
5) Body of Report
A) Staffing & safety
B) Mandatory overtime
C) Workplace safety
D) Nursing as a career choice
E) Board of Registration in Nursing
F) Specialty nursing
G) Home health nursing
H) Reimbursement
1) Licensing
6) Conclusions & Recommendations
To The Honorable Members of the Great and General Court:
The Special Commission on Nursing & Nursing Practice is pleased
to present to you their final report. The Commission members have
worked diligently to compile the data collected at the six hearings
held during the year 2000. We have arranged the report into distinct
sections that develop the subject area presented by the participants.
We have endeavored to be thorough but succinct. It is our desire
to present you with a report that is readable in one sitting and
understandable to all. The report we present to you has met those
goals.
Throughout the hearing process, we listened to licensed nurses
and other health care professionals who care deeply about their
chosen profession and are truly disheartened by the current environment
within which they practice. They attended the hearings in large
numbers. Some presented written testimony and others presented
oral testimony. We have relied heavily upon these testimonials
for the body of this report. It is our belief that the words of
the participants are powerful and truly reflective of the crisis
in nursing that we are now experiencing. We have referenced quotes
with either the initials and title of the person testifying or
both.
All the data collected is kept on file and available for inspection
upon written request. All requests should be addressed to Representative
Canavan, House Chairman of the Special Commission.
We would like the reader to note that throughout the Commission's
work, we learned that the health care industry is seriously short
of working licensed nurses, and the shortage has developed into
a problem so negatively pervasive that current nurses are leaving
the profession in numbers large enough to offset any gain in new
graduate nurses. Retention and recruitment in the nursing profession
are the two main themes that this report addresses.
Lastly, one thing became very clear to the Commission members.
Licensed nurses and the patients are inextricably linked. If the
working conditions of the licensed nurse improve, direct patient
care improves. If the patients' concerns for quality care are met,
the working conditions for the licensed nurses have been addressed.
Their relationship is symbiotic.
In conclusion, the Commission members hope that this report enlightens
all who take the time to read it and that our recommendations are
supported.
Respectfully Submitted,
Christine E. Canavan
House Chairman
Robert S. Creedon, Jr.
Senate Chairman
The Special Commission on Nursing and Nursing Practice in the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts:
House Chairman, Rep. Christine E. Canavan, RN, BSN (D-Brockton)
Rep. Cory Atkins (D-Concord; Acton)
Rep. Barbara Hyland (R-Foxborough)
Rep. Kay Khan, RN, MSN (D-Newton)
Rep. Mary Jane Simmons, LPN (D-Leominster)
Senate Chairman, Senator Robert Creedon, Jr. (D-Brockton)
Senator Richard Moore
(Chair of Joint Committee on Health Care) (D-Uxbridge)
Senator Michael Morrissey
(Chair, Joint Committee, Gov.Regulations) (D- Quincy)
Senator Therese Murray
(Chair, Joint Committee, Human Services & Elderly Affairs)
(D-Plymouth)
Senator Henri Rauschenbach (R-Brewster)
This committee, composed of five members of the House of Representatives
and five members of the Senate, convened to address the issues of
patient care with the health care workers of the Commonwealth. This
report is the result of these hearings and the resultant recommendations
(Section 338 (H284) of Chapter 127 of the Act of 1999).
State Representative Christine E. Canavan and State Senator Robert
Creedon have been appointed to coterie the Special Commission to
investigate and report on matters affecting the practice of nursing
and the delivery of health care services by nurses. "The committee
will gather information from healthier providers and licensed or
unlicensed employees, on the impact of their job performance of
any/all current regulations, promulgated by any and all state agencies." Journal
of the House, March 2, 2000.
The hearings were held at the following sites:
College of the Elms, Chicopee MA, May 18, 2000
Massachusetts Voc-Technical School, Fitchburg MA, June 15, 2000
Cape Cod Community College, W.Barnstable MA, September 12, 2000
Salem State College, Salem MA, September 21, 2000
Bristol Community College, Fall River MA, October 12, 2000
Massasoit Community College, Brockton MA, October 24, 2000
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