Take Part In TNA's Nurse Staffing Summit

Your Input Is Critical to Informing Policy Change

By Jack Frazee, J.D.

Texas passed a hospital staffing committee statute in 2009, making it an early adopter of this policy model among the states. The COVID-19 pandemic strained nurse staffing until it neared a breaking point. Now, in the wake of the pandemic, nurses are studying staffing, reassessing the existing model, and thinking about what improvements can be made.

SHARE YOUR LIVED EXPERIENCE

TNA has been researching the nurse staffing statute in Texas and gathering as much data as possible to inform its research. TNA has identified several strengths and weaknesses in the existing system, but we lack adequate data about the lived experiences of Texas nurses. To fill this gap, we are hosting a Nurse Staffing Summit to bring together nurses, from bedside to executive management, to discuss and share their experiences with staffing in Texas facilities.

The summit will use the World Café model, with a series of presentations about the policy framework in Texas, policy alternatives, workforce data, and the experience of working on a staffing committee. Between presentations, participants will discuss various topics to generate ideas about how the staffing policies in Texas are affecting nursing practice and how we might improve or change the system.

TNA is hosting a Nurse Staffing Summit to bring together nurses, from bedside to executive management, to discuss and share their experiences with staffing in Texas facilities.

INFORM TNA'S POLICY INITIATIVES

This meeting will inform TNA’s policy work. In the last session, the Texas Legislature made the largest investment in nursing education in state history. The purpose of that investment was to alleviate the nursing shortage by expanding the capacity of our nursing schools to admit, train, and graduate students prepared to obtain their license and join the workforce. However, we increasingly hear that the workplace conditions nursing enter are so challenging that nurses are leaving the profession at an unsustainably high rate. To protect nurses’ welfare as well as the taxpayer investment in nursing education, it is critical for TNA to study workplace conditions in the here and now and recommend policy changes the Legislature can implement to alleviate the challenges nurses are facing.

We know from decades of research that nurse staffing is critical for patient outcomes. For Texans to receive high quality healthcare that is free from medical errors, we must ensure an adequate number of nurses who are practicing in environments that promote success. Often, we hear the opposite is happening — nurses are overburdened, under resourced, and asked to take on unsafe or unrealistic assignments.

We must respond to the challenges presented by the global pandemic and address the challenges that emerged or we will have failed to repair the damage inflicted by this significant health event. To successfully respond, we need your knowledge and experience. Here’s how you can help:

• Join us at the Nurse Staffing Summit to inform our research;

• Send us an email sharing what you’re experiencing with staffing in practice (governmentalaffairs@ texasnurses.org); and

• When TNA ultimately publishes its research and associated policy position, send us your comments.

Your input is critical to ensuring our policy recommendations reflect the needs and preferences of Texas nurses. Join us in assessing the status quo and charting the path forward.