For Colorado ICU nurse Jordan LeBlanc, working at the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center has been a rewarding experience because of his daily interaction with the veteran population. demonstration-1.jpg "What could be greater than our veterans. They’re funny. They’re kind. They’re forgiving. They think that we know best, even when we don’t, but most of all they trust us," said LeBlanc.
It is that trust that nurses say they are pushing to protect, in the wake of what they say has been an ongoing hiring freeze from nationwide budget cuts to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
"We have 57 open vacancies that are frontline," said Sharda Fornnarino, who is the director of the local National Nurses United at the Rocky Mountain Regional VA. "That basically entails the ICU, med surge, the OR, some of our surgical areas as far as the outpatient surgeries, SCI and our mental health area." demonstration-2.jpg On Thursday, nurses from the medical center rallied across the street from the building in Aurora to raise awareness about their existing staffing shortages and the challenges they have faced being able to serve the veteran population because of this shortage.
LeBlanc says often nurses like him now have to take on a greater patient workload and sometimes work more hours to do so.
"Our ICU specifically has been staffed at less than 85% of its functional capacity," he said. "Right now, we’re at 18 bed ICU that only 12 of the beds are open. They’ve closed six beds because of staffing levels."
Nurses say the staffing challenges does not just affect their morale, but it can also compromise the relationship they have with each patient.
"Any veteran or any patient within our system will get less than they deserve, less than the total dignity that each individual really deserves to be provided," he said.
VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes responded to nurses rallying across the country, saying there is no freeze on hiring nurses and they are continuing to hire nurses needed across the country. Hayes’s complete statement is as follows: VA’s top priority is providing the world-class care that Veterans deserve, and […]
Nurses at Rocky Mountain VA rally for more staffing to serve Colorado veterans
