Congressman Jim Costa presenting the National Nursing Shortage Task Force Act, in response to the nursing shortage crisis. Photo by Alex Scott

Rep. Jim Costa announced new legislation Monday, in an effort to combat the nursing shortage in California and throughout the United States.

According to Costa, 28% of registered nurses are expected to leave the profession within the next five years, meaning the healthcare industry will lose a million nurses before 2030.

Costa’s new legislation, H.R. 4328 – National Nursing Shortage Task Force Act, would establish a federal task force to provide recommendations to Congress and the President to address the growing nursing shortage.

“The United States is at the precipice of what I believe is a devastating, potentially catastrophic shortage of nursing in the near term, and the short term, and especially in medically underserved areas like our San Joaquin Valley,” said Costa.

The National Nursing Shortage Task Force would be tasked with the following:

● Assessing, examining, and reporting on the nursing workforce capacity
● Providing recommendations to the President and Congress to address the growing
nursing shortage.
● Build upon existing or ongoing evaluations to bolster nursing education and the nursing
workforce.

Over the last two years, about 100,000 nurses in the U.S. have left the healthcare industry due to employee burnout, staffing shortages and the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, it is projected that the country will need about 200,000 additional registered nurses each year over the next
decade.

Furthermore, due to insufficient faculty, nursing schools across the country have turned away over 900,000 qualified applications from baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in 2021. These persistent shortages negatively impact nurses choosing to enter and remain in the
industry; with 45% of nurses experiencing burnout and being expected to work longer hours to accommodate shortages. Additionally, as seasoned RNs leave the industry, newly licensed nurses lose the opportunity to work under those with decades of experience.

In response to this crisis, the task force will be made up of individuals with relevant expertise in nursing practice, nursing labor market analysis, nursing education, health care financing and facility management, and nursing labor unions, as well as other specialties.