The shortage of available healthcare professionals coupled with growing demand makes the importance of safe staffing even more critical. Nurses and other healthcare professionals are working longer hours and are being assigned too many patients. Virginia’s nurses must be empowered and involved in creating appropriate staffing plans. 

Additionally, policies must be enacted to better ensure healthcare professionals’ safety at work. Healthcare professionals continue to face an elevated risk of workplace violence from patients and other individuals; as much as five times higher in hospitals than the national average. Other workplace hazards need to be addressed to keep our workforce strong and protect all healthcare workers as part of a standard of care. 

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Virginia continues to experience an alarming shortage of healthcare professionals, especially in the nursing profession, while large numbers of nursing school applicants are being denied admission based not on merit, but rather on a lack of faculty and available clinical sites. It’s crucial that the commonwealth continue to invest in growing nursing education programs to increase enrollment and eliminate the staffing shortage. We should continue strengthening support for nursing faculty, clinical preceptors, the Earn While You Learn program, and the Nursing Workforce Center to ensure a high-quality nursing workforce for all Virginians. At the same time, these investments must be fully leveraged to reach as many students and future nurses as possible, while also advancing greater diversity in faculty and admissions so that the workforce truly reflects our communities.

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Our healthcare system relies on the concept of “Just Culture,” that is, it acknowledges that errors occur due to system failures that allow them to occur. When an error is made, healthcare facilities rely on clinicians to voluntarily report the error so that a root cause analysis can be performed, and future errors can be prevented via system changes. Criminally prosecuting those who make unintentional medical errors endangers patient safety. If clinicians fear criminal prosecution for voluntary disclosure of a medical error, they will be much less likely to report errors, and this will allow system failures to go undetected and uncorrected, ultimately making patients less safe. Such a risk also makes it more difficult to recruit individuals to be healthcare providers. It is vital that we preserve Just Culture to protect patient safety by removing the fear of criminal prosecution for an unintentional error as was passed in Kentucky.

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All Virginia communities deserve the opportunity to live in a state of well-being and have equal access to safe and affordable healthcare. To ensure the optimal health of all Virginians, it is crucial that wellness be factored into decisions related to all policy areas, and that legislative solutions are advanced that promote a culture of health and tackle the barriers to wellness regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity. Furthermore, policymakers should work to safeguard privacy and autonomy within the patient-provider relationship. Climate health initiatives must also be prioritized to safeguard the health and well-being of Virginia communities.

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School nurses are front line healthcare providers, serving as the bridge between the healthcare and education systems. They serve as public health sentinels, overseeing the physical and mental health of all students. For many children living in or near poverty, the school nurse is the only healthcare professional they see. School nurses are essential in communicable disease surveillance, identification, and intervention. Above all else, access to a school nurse is a student health equity issue. We must work toward ensuring there is a nurse in every school across Virginia by providing resources and assistance to get more schools participating in Medicaid reimbursement for providing eligible services in schools.

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VDOE & VDH School Health Data Dashboards

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), in partnership with the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), conducts an annual survey of school health personnel to document the health services offered in Virginia public schools. This data helps to analyze various issues related to the delivery of health services in schools and the professional development of school health staff.
School Health Data Dashboards

data from the Virginia Department of Education on School Nurses & Health

Unnecessary practice restrictions and disparate insurance reimbursement rates for clinicians limits access to care for Virginians, particularly those in rural and underserved areas. It’s essential that we acknowledge the capabilities of all qualified clinicians to foster efficient and effective patient care and promote a collaborative and equitable healthcare environment in which licensing and regulatory authority belongs to the experts in each discipline. To accomplish this, clinicians must be licensed to practice to the full extent of their education and training, and be held accountable to the Board of Nursing, rather than a Joint Board. Furthermore, hospitals must be empowered to grant practice privileges to clinicians and seek equitable reimbursement for their services. Parity in practice and payment will help Virginia recruit and retain highly skilled clinicians and improve access to care in health professional shortage areas.

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