Session: The Nurse Staffing Crisis: Solutions

4218.0: Tuesday, November 9, 2004: 2:30 PM-4:00 PM

Oral

The Nurse Staffing Crisis: Solutions

The United States is experiencing a severe shortage of nurses that will intensify as baby boomers age and the need for health care grows. While registered nurses are expected to experience the largest job growth of all occupations in the next ten years, a study by Peter Hart and Associates found one in five quitting patient care. Most are leaving because of inadequate staffing. Adequate nurse staffing is key to patient care and nurse retention, while inadequate staffing endangers patients and drives nurses from their profession. Solutions to the nurse staffing crisis must be found. This session will examine three approaches to solving the nurse staffing crisis. These approaches include union organizing and the provisions of a negotiated contract; federal and state legislation; and the Kaiser solution, an example of a successful joint labor/management effort.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to: 1) Describe and discuss the ways in which union representation and the provisions of a collectively bargained union contract can improve working conditions and patient safety. 2) Describe and discuss the status of federal and state legislation designed to address issues such as mandatory overtime and understaffing. 3) Describe and discuss the Kaiser Coalition, a labor/management program which addresses the nurse staffing crisis.

Panelist(s):

Madeleine Golde
Larry Lipschultz
Kathy Schmidt, RN
Patricia Minors, PhD, MBA

Moderator(s):

Ann Converso, RN

2:30 PM

Understanding the Union Difference: Organizing as a Solution to the Nurse Staffing Crisis
Larry Lipschultz

2:50 PM

Legislative Solutions: Improving Standards for Nurse Staffing and the Quality of Patient Care
Madeleine Golde, MSSW

3:10 PM

Kaiser Permanente: A Labor/ Management Partnership Solution to the Nurse Staffing Crisis