From the Office of Senator Kerry

Wednesday, May 9, 2001

Washington, D.C. - Senator John F. Kerry (D-MA) today joined Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and hundreds of nurses on the capitol steps today in honor of National Nurses Week, calling for Congressional assistance to address the nursing shortage faced across the country.

Senators Kerry and Kennedy announced their work on legislation that would to put a stop to the practice of nurses being required to work mandatory overtime by imposing Medicare penalties on providers who continued the practice. The legislation will also establish whistle blower protections for nurses to report violations of mandatory overtime restrictions.

Senator Kerry said, "We've all seen the headlines and heard from nurses directly -- our nursing shortage is very real and it is affecting the quality of our health care in this country. Nurses themselves are decrying the very treatment being provided on the intensive care wards, in the emergency rooms, and at the bedsides of the patients where they work. If our hospitals and nursing homes cannot obtain the nurses they need, it harms patients – real people who are at their most vulnerable state. Congress must take steps to support our nurses, protect them from unfair working conditions, and recruit more nurses to the workforce."

Senator Kerry is also the author of the Nurse Reinvestment Act. The bill seeks to increase the numbers of nurses in our country and to ensure that every nurse has the skills he or she needs to provide quality care to patients. The legislation would authorize a National Nurse Service Corps to provide educational scholarships for nursing students who commit to working in facilities that are experiencing shortages. For nurses who have already been working in health care, the legislation would offer grants for advanced education and training.