Text: HR00022 Text: HR00024 Text: HR00000 - HR00099 Text: HR Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 HOUSE RESOLUTION NO.
1 2 BY REYNOLDS
1 3 A Resolution urging that attention be focused on the
1 4 potential shortage of qualified nurses in the health
1 5 care profession.
1 6 WHEREAS, nurses constitute the largest number of
1 7 health care professionals in the United States; and
1 8 WHEREAS, many nurses are concerned about the
1 9 inadequacies of staffing; and
1 10 WHEREAS, the demand for nursing services has been
1 11 affected by cost-containment pressures within health
1 12 care organizations resulting from managed care and an
1 13 increasingly competitive health care environment;
1 14 hospital consolidation, downsizing, and reengineering;
1 15 reductions in inpatient hospitalization rates;
1 16 increased acuity of hospital patients' conditions; and
1 17 a shift of outpatient care from hospitals to
1 18 ambulatory and community-based settings, all of which
1 19 affect the use of qualified nurses; and
1 20 WHEREAS, the declining enrollments in nursing
1 21 programs, the aging of the current workforce, and the
1 22 rate of qualified persons leaving the career indicate
1 23 a future shortage of nurses; and
1 24 WHEREAS, efforts must be immediately commenced to
1 25 recruit new nurses and encourage existing nurses to
1 26 remain in the nursing profession through adequate
1 27 orientation and mentoring programs; and
1 28 WHEREAS, Iowa's proportion of older adults in the
1 29 population exceeds that of the United States as a
1 30 whole, and Iowa's 19.91 percentage of persons aged 60
2 1 years or older ranks fourth in the nation; and
2 2 WHEREAS, the health requirements of older Iowans,
2 3 and all Iowa citizens, will continue, and likely
2 4 increase, the need for trained nursing professionals;
2 5 NOW THEREFORE,
2 6 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
2 7 That the General Assembly needs to address the issue
2 8 of nursing shortages, by considering the creation of
2 9 state-based nursing workforce centers to track,
2 10 analyze, and make recommendations on the nursing
2 11 workforce within the state, and by increasing nursing
2 12 education dollars to increase the capacity of the
2 13 schools of nursing and recruit more students into
2 14 nursing.
2 15 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That nurses are recognized
2 16 as an integral part of the health care profession, and
2 17 that every effort must be made to prevent a shortage
2 18 of nurses, which would adversely affect every citizen
2 19 of Iowa.
2 20 LSB 3239HH 79
2 21 vl/gg/8
Text: HR00022 Text: HR00024 Text: HR00000 - HR00099 Text: HR Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
© 2001 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa
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