WEST VIRGINIA Nurses group seeks to head off a crisis

Some 70 percent of the registered nurses working in West Virginia are older than 39.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) -- West Virginia has more nursing vacancies than at least two neighboring states, and the group that represents 20,000 nurses wants lawmakers to act before the crisis gets worse.
Legislators need to outlaw mandatory overtime and work to recruit and retain more nurses, said Paula Staud, president of the West Virginia Nurses' Association.
"Nurses remain on the front line of the struggle for health care, and they are not being given the adequate support, compensation or respect they deserve," she said.
As the nurses began their annual two-day convention today in Morgantown, they called on lawmakers to come up with recruiting incentives, to open more slots in nursing education programs and to raise the salaries of teaching nurses. The next legislative session begins in January.
"We do not provide enough money to attract nurses," Staud said, "and in many instances a nurse is the most important medical provider a patient sees."
The numbers
The West Virginia Hospital Association estimates about 18 percent of the state's nursing positions are vacant, compared to 14 percent in Maryland and 10 percent in Pennsylvania.
Some 70 percent of the registered nurses now working in West Virginia are older than 39. And with the number of students enrolled in RN programs down by half since 1984, they have few replacements in the pipeline, Staud said.
The current shortage already forces them to work extra hours or face losing their jobs -- a problem lawmakers should address.
"No nurse will shirk his or her duty during a medical emergency, but too many nurses are working long hours that are not necessary. That puts patients at risk and continues to drive nurses from the profession," said Staud, an RN of 34 years and West Virginia's 2001 Nurse of the Year.
"Error rates increase in health care when nurses are subject to lengthy mandatory shifts," she said. "This practice must end."
Last week, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that patients have a greater chance of dying when they are cared for by overworked nurses.
Suggestions
Researchers suggested better staffing levels would reduce patient deaths and keep nurses on the job at a time when hospitals nationwide are struggling to fill positions.
The researchers found that each additional patient translated to about a 7 percent increase in the likelihood the patient would die within 30 days of admission. The article did not, however, suggest a nurse-to-patient ratio.
Nursing experts from across the nation will meet in Morgantown next week also, this time for a summit at the Pines Country Club.
Among those listed to speak are Barbara Blakeney, president of the American Nurses' Association, and Jim Bentley, a senior vice president with the American Hospital Association.