14 N A T I O N A L N U R S E W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G O C T O B E R | N O V E M B E R | D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 3
NEWS BRIEFS
NATIONAL
V
eterans affairs nurses have
been speaking out about patient
safety and the nurse staffing crisis
throughout the VA, holding pick-
ets, rallies, and other actions. According to a
2023 report by the Office of the Inspector
General (OIG) of the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA), 92 percent of VA facili-
ties reported severe understaffing of nurses.
In addition, the VA's own research stated that
the vacancy rates will drastically increase
over the next five years. Many VA nurses
across the country say the solution to the VA's
nurse staffing crisis is flexible scheduling.
At a picket in June, Cincinnati VA Med-
ical Center RNs protested the
administration's refusal to address RNs'
deep concerns about the VA's dangerous
plan to put high-level ICU and progressive
care unit (PCU) patients on medical-surgi-
cal units, contrary to the VA's own policy. In
addition, the hospital's leadership is reneg-
ing on its promise to improve retention by
providing RNs with flexible work schedules.
"Our veterans will become collateral
damage as a result of our leadership's reck-
less and injudicious decisions to implement
new policies that jeopardize the safety of our
patients and place RNs' licenses at risk," said
Shana Rivera, ICU nurse at the Cincinnati
VA. "This is irresponsible. Critical drips do
not belong on a medical-surgical unit. This
is not safe for patients nor the RNs' license."
Nurses at the Lovell Federal Health Care
Center in North Chicago picketed in Sep-
tember to make the public aware of
management's refusal to implement flexible
work schedules, which they have been urg-
ing the VA to implement for years. At Lovell
FHCC, the vacancy rate has increased from
4.5 percent in 2022 to 13.9 percent in 2023.
"We know that we are facing a staffing cri-
sis as Lovell FHCC VA's vacancy rate has
increased more than 9 percent in the last
Veterans Affairs nurses keep
up the fight for patient safety
RNs in Atlanta, Augusta, Aurora, North Chicago,
and Cincinnati speak out
