Rep. Gabbard Presents Briefing on Nurse Shortage

A severe shortage of nurses in Hawai‘i and across the country was the focus of a briefing on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017, hosted by Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, co-chair of the Congressional Nursing Caucus.

The event featured a panel discussion with nursing leaders and fellow lawmakers, along with a film screening of Defining HOPE, a documentary that follows patients with life-threatening illness as they make choices about how they want to live, how much medical technology they can accept, what they hope for and how that hope evolves when life is threatened.

Courtesy Photo

“Nurses and caregivers are the heart of our healthcare system,” said Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. “Day in and day out, they provide life-saving care with empathy and compassion in the most trying and stressful situations. Yet across the country, we continue to see nursing workforce shortages, especially in our rural and underserved communities, like those in my home state of Hawai‘i. Today’s discussion identified opportunities to collaborate to address the severe nursing shortage, including passing the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act I’ve introduced. This legislation would reauthorize federal funding for nursing and education programs to help grow and support the nursing workforce across the country, and expand access to quality healthcare for our keiki, veterans, kūpuna and others in need.”

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard serves as co-chair of the Congressional Nursing Caucus with Rep. David Joyce (Ohio-14). The congresswoman joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers to introduce H.R.959, Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act in February of 2017. The bipartisan legislation would reauthorize federal funding for nursing workforce and education programs to help grow and support nurses in the U.S.