In light of a disappointing lack of action by the 87th Legislature to address an ongoing nursing shortage, alleviate regulatory burdens, and provide protections from workplace violence, a coalition of 16 nursing organizations today requested Governor Abbott add these issues to the agenda for the upcoming special session, set to begin July 8.

“Even as we move past the COVID-19 pandemic, Texas continues to face a mounting, overwhelming shortage of nurses and general access to healthcare across the state,” the coalition said in a letter to Governor Abbott. “To help address this, nurses need support in educational opportunities, a productive and safe work environment, and the repeal of unnecessary mandates that are preventing Texas patients from accessing high-quality health care.”

The Texas Legislature declined to pass any bills that would have addressed the state’s critical shortage of nurses, in fact cutting the budget for the Nursing Shortage Reduction Program, which is allotted biennially to schools of nursing to help them increase enrollment.

 

Please read the coalition’s letter, in full, below.

 

Dear Governor Abbott,

 

On behalf of 16 organizations representing over 300,000 nurses across Texas, thank you for your efforts to support us through the COVID-19 crisis. Your decision to waive burdensome regulations to expand our healthcare workforce was crucial to helping us address the overwhelming demands of the most significant public health crisis of our lifetimes. We also appreciate the support you expressed to us throughout the year. However, our state’s support of nurses was not backed up by the 87th Legislative Session. The legislature left unaddressed measures that would have provided protections from workplace violence, made permanent the waivers you put in place, removed unnecessary regulations, and expanded our healthcare workforce.

 

As such, we request that you add nursing issues to the call for the upcoming special session.

 

Even as we move past the COVID-19 pandemic, Texas continues to face a mounting, overwhelming shortage of nurses and general access to healthcare across the state. To help address this, nurses need support in educational opportunities, a productive and safe work environment, and the repeal of unnecessary mandates that are preventing Texas patients from accessing high-quality health care.

 

The fact lawmakers declined to address these issues made Texas even less competitive for attracting and retaining nurses and other quality healthcare workers. Their inaction will exacerbate an already fragile situation. Further, while the past year of historic highs in nursing shortages demonstrated a compelling need to expand the health care workforce, lawmakers cut the budget for the Nursing Shortage Reduction Program, allotted biennially to schools of nursing to help them increase enrollment.

 

The last year taught us both the critical importance of nurses and nursing care in our state and the overwhelming degree of dedication our nurses commit to the patients who need them. While several lawmakers worked hard on behalf of Texas patients and nurses, we are deeply disheartened by the overall lack of progress this legislative session.

 

In addition to budget cuts, the following bills and measures did not pass:

• HB 2029 (Klick), SB 915 (Hancock) — Would have removed anti-competitive regulations for APRNs to expand access to care for Texans.
• HB 1524 (Lucio) — Would have allowed APRNs to prescribe Schedule II medications under delegated authority from a physician.
• HB 326 (Howard) — Would have required facilities to adopt workplace violence prevention plans, encouraged reporting of incidents of workplace violence, and ensured that providers receive the care they need after an incident.
• HB 396 (Moody), SB 433/499 (Zaffirini and Blanco) – Would have created a presumption that nurses who contracted COVID-19 did so in the scope of their employment.
• HB 2409 (Dean) – Would have codified the COVID-19 measure waiving CE requirements and reactivation fees for nurses who came out of retirement/reactivated their license during a disaster.
• HB 982 (Howard and Darby) — Would have created an expedited licensure process for APRNs who are licensed out of state.
• SB 146 (Powell), HB 2062 (Klick) — Would have created a loan repayment program for nurses who work in long-term care.
• HB 3819 (Klick and Powell) – Would have allowed school nurses to administer prescription asthma medicine to a student in emergency situations

 

When Texas nurses are able to effectively do their jobs, and when Texas can successfully compete against other states for the best and brightest in the healthcare industry, it benefits all Texans.

 

For those reasons, we request that you add these issues to the agenda for the upcoming special session.