I am sure you are all feeling the pressures of the current severe recession. At the same time, both emergency nurses and our patients are feeling the strain. With rising unemployment, the nation’s emergency departments will likely be seeing more uninsured patients, adding further to dangerous and stressful overcrowding situations at work.
Throughout the country, hospitals are cutting back on expenses; travel and education are usually the first to go. In reducing staff costs, hospitals tend to lay off managers and educators before they lay off staff nurses.
Although nurses can usually find a job, the reality is that many emergency nurses are the breadwinners in their homes or, if they live in two-income homes, have spouses facing the prospect of layoffs or reduced income. The economic crisis has hit retired nurses hard as well, with investment incomes plummeting. With less disposable income, many emergency nurses who are members of the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) will have to tighten their belts. That means that the decision to attend conferences and courses or to pay association membership dues is a more difficult one.
As ENA President, I am committed to standing with our membership in these tough times, and I have asked our volunteer and staff leadership to join me in this mission. We will be sensitive to members’ plights and do everything that we can to provide support. At this point, the Board and senior staff are just beginning to plan what forms that support will take. To ensure that we are able to continue the level of services we provide, and perhaps to provide increased or different services and support in light of the crisis, we are asking everyone at ENA, both staff and volunteers, to help us tighten our own belts by cutting our expenses without decreasing member services.
In March, I will meet with our ENA state leadership and discuss the ways that we reach out to members and help them endure the difficult times.
I am optimistic that this recession will be short-lived and we will see better times. I am even more confident that the energetic and talented ENA staff and volunteers will help our members weather the storm and achieve new heights.
I urge each and every one of you to stay involved in your local chapter and state council. Speak up and advocate for the issues we believe in: patient safety, access to care, parity for mental health patients, and staff safety. As disheartening as it is to see millions of Americans unemployed, the crisis presents some opportunities for the profession. Nursing positions are in the greatest demand, with a current 8.1% vacancy rate, according to American Hospital Association.
Funding for nurse training will lead to real jobs because a very real need exists. We must continue to support funding that will meaningfully contribute to the reduction in the vacancy rate. ENA’s active government affairs division educates Congress about the need for this funding, as well as funding for hospitals, the care of psychiatric patients, and much more. In fact, with the support that they can offer, professional associations couldn’t be more important than they are now. The ENA network is a very supportive one. A nurse educator in my state recently shared with colleagues at a local ENA chapter meeting that she had just been laid off. Within days, she had more leads to jobs than she could handle. Many colleagues find the various ENA listserves (e.g., for nurse educators, nurse managers, clinical nurses) receive quick help from other colleagues who offer policies, management strategy, or clinical insights that save significant time and money.
I am very proud of our association and especially proud of the work we do to support emergency nurses in this country, and around the world. Our members stand ready everyday to help those most in need, and it is the privilege to be able to stand by and support ENA members during these difficult economic times. Tough times call for a tough association. We will rise to that challenge.
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