The clock is ticking.

It sounds like math class, last period, in that miasma of “about to be summer.” I am waiting. Not for class to end, but for the nurse to arrive. I’m not the one who’s injured, but it’s time to talk about our nursing crisis- and why it means we need to fund education. 

You see, I’m sitting here at one in the morning, call button orange and glowing in the darkness, because this care facility has a staffing shortage. My friend’s elderly mother is in the bed and she cannot stand up on her own to go to the bathroom. I am not trained to lift her. I have to have help. 

There is one nurse on staff for two halls of patients- and arguably these patients are lucky. I am in a city – in rural areas, care centers have been shutting down completely.  

Never has there been a greater call for pay increases for nurses. As our population ages and develops disabilities we will need more assistance.  That’s where Democrats come in. 

Forgiving student loans and government subsidization of nursing programs is crucial to fixing the nurse shortage, but that’s just one aspect. In August of 2023, the Biden-Harris administration invested $100 million into programs to grow our nursing education and population. Not only does it involve training new nurses, but also helping LPNs become RNs. The plan additionally addressed adding new nurse faculty to schools- fixing a desperate problem in the current educational infrastructure. Those are wonderful first steps! 

We still have a lot of work to do. We have to make sure nurses get to where they’re needed. We have to fund and support hospital systems. We have to make sure rural folks have physical access to care. We all have to push, so that everyone gets what they need – because no one should be stuck laying in their own piss. 

And as I sit here, waiting for the nurse to come, waiting for the glowing orange light to turn off, waiting for the new nurses to graduate- I can’t wait to see what happens next!