We Need More Nurses!

By 2020, our nation will suffer from a shortage of more than one million nurses. We need to take action right now to make sure we have the nurses we need for years to come. The Nurse Training and Retention Act would establish comprehensive programs to train current health care workers to become nurses, boosting the ranks of nurses with well trained and well prepared professionals.

Send a letter to your member of Congress and tell him or her to support the Nurse Training and Retention Act.

Subject:

Dear [ Decision Maker ],

(Edit Letter Below)

Our nation is suffering from a nursing crisis. We simply don't have enough nurses to care for our patients, and the shortage will only get worse as our population ages. By 2020, the Health Resources and Services Administration projects that the supply of nurses will only meet 64 percent of the demand, with a shortage that will reach more than a million nurses.

In order to reverse this trend, I urge you to support the Nurse Training and Retention Act, S. 2064, which was just introduced in Congress. This crucial legislation would award grants to comprehensive joint labor-management programs that focus on training incumbent health care workers to become registered nurses.

These programs have proven successful in the past, because health care workers are well prepared to meet the demands of the nursing profession and the challenges of caring for patients. Moreover, they would be administered by both health care providers, who know the needs of their facilities, and organizations representing health care workers, who know the needs of their members.

America's nurses work on the front lines of patient care. We have to take care of those who take care of us. That means not only training enough nurses, but also protecting the rights of current nurses to ensure safe and effective care for all patients. That means guaranteeing safe staffing, ending mandatory overtime, improving wages, and funding career development.

We cannot afford to let the nursing shortage continue. I hope you'll support the Nurse Training and Retention Act and make sure that our country has the nurses we need. Thank you.

Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address]

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