State to study nursing shortage

Members of the largest healthcare workers union joined the governor today to announce a task force to study the state’s nursing shortage. Nurses from the Service Employees International Union Local 199 in Iowa lined up several dozen pairs of shoes on the west steps of the Capitol Building today. Spokesperson, and registered nurse, Kathy Singer says the white shoes signify the shortage of nurses in the state. The S-E-I-U study shows there are three-thousand-300 open nursing jobs right now in the state. Singer says nurses aren’t the only ones who suffer from the shortage.Sarah Swisher, a union member and nurse, says the shortage has slowly grown and will continue to grow is something doesn’t change. Governor Vilsack says the state is forming a task force made up representatives from the nursing association and the health care industry to examine the problem. Vilsack says the task force will also make recommendations on how to change policies to address the shortage. S-E-I-U represents two thousand nurses and health care employees in Iowa, mainly at the University of Iowa Hospitals.