Bush Signs Nursing Recruitment Legislation [Jeb: "I love nurses because..."] (AP)

AP via www.jeb.org ^ | May 29, 2002 | Vickie Chachere

[summer]

Gov. Jeb Bush meets a young supporter.


Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Associated Press

Bush Signs Nursing Recruitment Legislation [Jeb: "I love nurses because they bring us back to the basics."]

By Vickie Chachere

TAMPA - With 9,000 nursing jobs open in the state and tens of thousands of new nurses needed soon, Gov. Jeb Bush signed legislation Tuesday designed to attract more people to the profession. In ceremonial bill signings at James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital in Tampa and later at Orlando Regional Medical Center, Bush lauded nurses for their dedication but said the state needs more of them.

''Nurses put a sense of humanity in a thing that desperately needs humanity,'' Bush said. ''I love nurses because they bring us back to the basics.''

Florida needs 34,000 new nurses by 2006 to keep up with the health care demands of an aging population and to replace the thousands of nurses who are retiring, health officials say.

In Orlando, nurses, educators and students told Bush during a round-table discussion that the nursing shortage is exacerbated by a shortage of nursing instructors in universities and hospitals.

The legislation (House Bill 519) signed by Bush allows nurses who move to Florida from other states and Puerto Rico with comparable training standards to obtain a Florida license once they have passed background checks. The nurses must have three years of experience to participate.

There is no estimate on how many additional nurses that would bring to Florida, but the bill's backers said the state will be a big draw for Spanish- speaking nurses.

The legislation also allows the Florida Department of Health to help repay some nurses' student loans. The department can make repayments of up to $4,000 annually for up to four years for some nursing students who did not have other financial aid and who go to work in Florida health care facilities.

The bill also allots $500,000 in grants for middle and high schools to create programs to get students interested in health care professions.

A separate measure also signed by the governor (Senate Bill 1808) provides funding for the Florida Center for Nursing, which is charged with creating a state strategy to deal with the nursing shortage. Nurses applying for a Florida license can donate to the center if they wish.

''These are not an end all and be all,'' the governor said of the steps the new laws take. ''It is not where I hope we stop.''

[summer]

''Nurses put a sense of humanity in a thing that desperately needs humanity,'' Bush said. ''I love nurses because they bring us back to the basics.''

BTW, this AP reporter -- Vicki Chachere -- has been doing a terrific job of including quotes from Gov. Bush! :)

[summer]

For index.

[summer]

FYI. :)

[summer]

FYI. BTW, thanks for your comments on that other thread about the new alternative to Viagra.

[Paul Atreides]

You know, everyone would be cringing if Bubba, or Janet for that matter, started off a sentence with "I love nurses because...."

[Eagle Eye]

More government answers for private sector problems.

[summer]

I just liked what he said. I tried to include the entire sentence, but it didn't all fit in the title space:

Bush said. ''I love nurses because they bring us back to the basics.''

The reason I liked what he said is because I happen to likewise believe nurses do exactly that. A nurse is the one my dad credits with saving his life -- not the doctor, who died shortly thereafter. No offense to doctors.

[summer]

caltrop, What do you think of this new legislation? Needed or no?

[Looking4Truth]

Regardless of whether this is govt intervention in a private problem or not, I love nurses because when I was in a foreign country and ended up in the hospital with a broken shoulder, five broken ribs and a punctured lung, the nurses at the hospital I was in paid special attention to me because they knew I was a stranger in a strange land. Love ya' babes from the bottom of my heart.

[summer]

Thank you for sharing that. A nurse stayed at the bedside of my dad, and just held my dad's hand, the entire night, when he suffered a massive heart attack. He could feel her hand. He lived through a heart attack the doctors all said should have, frankly, killed him.

[mlmr]

Soooooo..... if everyone really loves nurses so much why do hospitals and other healthcare facilities treat them so poorly and pay them so poorly???? Everybody talks about loving nurses, why not love them with better pay? Better working conditions?

Local hospital announced a 18% increase in nursing salaries. Then six months later deceided not to come through. Instead, they are building a new facility. Guess what ladies...the hospital is using your dollars for capital expenses. Twelve nurses have given notice already.

More to go...........

[summer]

...if everyone really loves nurses so much why do hospitals and other healthcare facilities treat them so poorly and pay them so poorly???? Everybody talks about loving nurses, why not love them with better pay? Better working conditions...

BTTT. I am all for better pay and working conditions for nurses.

[summer]

See posts #9 and #10.

[summer]

FYI. :)

[Eagle Eye]

RN's are being replaced by LPN's who are being replaced by CNA's who don't make diddly and are expendable.

Administrative compensation is increasing, yet where the patient/caregiver interface is most critical the jobs are not paying enough to attract and keep qulaity people. Even in this economy, nurses are in demand but refuse to work for CNA wages.

"Paging government intervention, we need government intervention to fix the problems..."

[Paul Atreides]

Believe me, I wasn't being facetious about the statement. I was just illustrating a difference in the character of Jeb and the people the Democrat party hold up as their standard-bearers. I have my own special appreciation for nurses. Ten years ago, I was on death's door, literally, when I had to have major surgery. I was in recovery for three weeks. In that time I was taken care of by the nurses at the hospital who waited on me hand and foot, talked with me, comforted me, aided in the comfort of my family, and administered medication to me. The kicker was, I was just one of about five-ten patients they tended at the time! I also saw how much training nurses had to put into practice, from keeping medication straight for ten patients to zooming down the hall during a code blue. I still see one or two of the nurses I had, out in the general public, and they always greet me with a smile, a hug, and a how-are-you-doing?.

[floridarocks]

Employers of nurses don't love nurses. They hate them and treat them accordingly. Nurses are treated like crap and paid terribly low wages. Nurses have finally woken up and said "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more!" That's why there is a shortage. Young people know it's a dead end job and are training for more lucrative careers. Until nurses get respect and MONEY, there will be a shortage.

[3catsanadog]

www.allnurses.com has a forum that is interesting to read, straight from the horse's mouth about nursing work, the shortages, pay rates around the country, etc.

[mlmr]

I have an RN. Know what I tell young people. Dont become a nurse. No power, tons of responsiblity, tons of liablility, tons of paperwork, poor working conditions, no control and lousy pay.

[friendly]

Hey Jeb, how about reining in the corrupt, parasitic, and fabulously wealthy lawyer industry?

Nurses are the personal target of these sc*mb*gs in their endless quest for megamillion dollar payouts. Why would anyone be a nurse with the unlimited liability this entails, to be paid peanuts by managed care, Medicare,and Medicaid?

While of course well intentioned, Jeb is really doing nothing whatsoever to solve the problem.