[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 48 (Wednesday, April 4, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H1465]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                CRITICAL ISSUES FACING AMERICA'S NURSES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Langevin) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to address critical 
issues facing America's nurses, which have a tremendous impact on the 
quality of this Nation's health care system.
  As many of my colleagues know, we face an unprecedented, dangerous 
shortage in the number of nurses in our hospitals, extended care 
facilities, community health centers, nursing education, and ambulatory 
care settings. This shortage is due in large part to the aging nursing 
population, which is not being replaced by younger entrants into this 
field.
  Moreover, data on the nursing workforce shows that staffing shortages 
are already occurring and recruiting new registered nurses is becoming 
a looming obstacle which we will not be able to overcome without swift 
congressional action. The current shortage will soon be compounded by 
the lack of young people entering the nursing profession, the rapid 
aging of the nursing workforce, and the impending health needs of the 
baby boom generation.
  That is why I am proud to be an original cosponsor of legislation to 
improve access to nursing education, to create partnerships between 
health care providers and educational institutions, to support nurses 
as they seek more training, and to improve the collection and analysis 
of data about the nursing workforce.
  I congratulate my colleagues in both Chambers for their hard work in 
crafting this comprehensive legislation, and I urge both Chambers to 
bring this legislation to the floor as expeditiously as possible.
  An equally vexing issue concerning our hard-working nurses is 
mandatory overtime. Last week I joined the gentleman from California 
(Mr. Lantos), the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. McGovern), and the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Solis) in introducing legislation to 
prohibit mandatory overtime for all licensed health care employees 
beyond 8 hours in a single workday or 80 hours in any 14 day work 
period except in cases of natural disaster or declaration of an 
emergency by Federal, State, or local government officials, or when it 
is voluntary.
  The practice of mandatory overtime tears at the fiber of many hard-
working families. Instead of punching out at the end of an already 
lengthy shift and traveling home to their families, many nurses are 
forced to remain at work. But more than a family or labor issue, this 
is a fundamental public health problem with far-reaching consequences. 
Exhausted health care workers can inadvertently or unintentionally put 
patient safety at risk. A report by the Institute of Medicine on 
medication errors found that safe staffing and limits on mandatory 
overtime are essential components to preventing medication errors. An 
investigative report by the Chicago Tribune also found that patient 
safety was sacrificed when reductions in hospital staff resulted in 
registered nurses working long overtime hours and being more likely to 
make serious medical errors.
  Mr. Speaker, these studies confirm the grim stories I hear from my 
constituents on a regular basis. In fact, last October 1,900 people 
participated in a 1-day strike at Rhode Island Hospital which 
illustrated the magnitude of this problem facing Rhode Island nurses, 
hospitals and patients.
  I understand that hospitals need an ample supply of nurses to safely 
administer patient needs, and they are not to blame for our Nation's 
nursing shortages. But with nurses within the Lifespan Hospital network 
in my State working 180,000 hours of overtime, the equivalent of 22,500 
extra 8-hour shifts last year, I cannot understand why Congress does 
not act now to stop this injustice which risks the lives of thousands 
of Americans each and every day.
  Mr. Speaker, what happened in Rhode Island is happening across 
America. That is why I urge my colleagues to join the gentlewoman from 
California (Mrs. Capps), the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), 
and me in ensuring expedient passage of both of these bills to help our 
hard-working nurses and to improve the kind of quality of health care 
that Americans expect and deserve.

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