New Jersey is suffering from a major nurse shortage, and those working in hospitals are now fed up. A protest is planned in Trenton for Thursday, in which nurses will be demanding passage of a bill that would set new standards for staffing at hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and some state Department of Human Services facilities.
How bad is it? Well, according to a survey, nearly a third of New Jersey nurses are considering quitting because of overwork and burnout. And the state is already suffering from a severe shortage of the health professionals.
Judy Schmidt, the CEO of the New Jersey State Nurses Association, said that the bill alone is not enough, because hospitals need to have nurses they can hire to supplement current staff.
“You now it’s really nice to have the ratio, but if you don’t have the nurse we’re still in the same situation, we need to get more people interested in becoming nurses, both females and males,” she said.