Nurses are the backbone of our health care system. Yet we’re facing a nursing shortage impacting access to high-quality, affordable care across the country and here at home in Nevada.
Nevada ranks fifth in an analysis of states with the highest nursing shortages in the country. In fact, one report from UNR’s Nevada Health Workforce Research Center found our state would need over 4,000 new registered nurses (RNs) to meet the national RN-to-population average – and that approximately two-thirds of Nevada’s population lives in an area with a shortage of providers.
No hospital is immune to this issue, and as a traveling nurse, I know all too well the challenges that accompany these provider shortages. It’s an issue that the trend of hospital consolidation has exacerbated – as large hospital systems buy up independent practices and charge higher prices for care, they further impede Nevadans from seeking the care they need.
That’s why our Congressional delegation must work to pass the Site-based Invoicing and Transparency Act (SITE), which would help curb these unfair hospital billing practices and reinvest savings from the bill into a national nurse training program.
The SITE Act is currently under consideration in the Senate. I urge Senator Catherine Cortez Masto and Senator Jack Rosen to support this vital piece of legislation. It promises to bolster our health care system and be a lifeline for us all.