Can someone please explain this to me? As a long-time resident of Page County, I am very concerned that cuts to healthcare programs will impair medical services here and hurt residents pursuing careers in nursing.
Nurses are essential to healthcare in Page County, but recent changes to law — some finalized, some proposed — are stumbling blocks for nursing. From what I see, they’ll impair healthcare for us in Page County and limit good jobs for our young people.
Nurses are essential to our healthcare system. Case in point: A registered nurse at Page Memorial recently wrote to the editor of the Shen-Valley Times, explaining just some of the many ways she and other nurses support local patients and families. As she put it, nurses are the “backbone of patient care.” Meanwhile, Page Memorial and other rural hospitals struggle with workforce shortages, plus recent cutbacks in funding Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
So why throw two stumbling blocks in front of the nursing profession?
First, this summer, several federal programs that support nurses and their patients were cut. Funding for nursing workforce development and education was cut, and standards for care at nursing homes were lifted.
Second, are proposed, new federal limits on student loans. These can only make it more difficult to pursue careers in nursing, physical therapy, and occupational therapy. The new rules would reclassify educational degrees in all those occupations as NOT “professional,” and then limit loans for those “nonprofessional” students. This likely means fewer people becoming nurses or therapists and less help for anyone needing their services.
I hope these changes don’t prevent students at the [Page] County Technical Center from pursuing nursing and therapy careers. After all, don’t we want to encourage young, capable people to stay here, with good jobs that serve our community?
Unless I’m missing something, the bottom line is these stumbling blocks will hurt local healthcare and limit opportunities for residents pursuing careers in healthcare.
So back to the beginning: Can someone please explain why it makes sense to undercut our nurses, our hospitals, and our healthcare?
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