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U.S.
Senator Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs
Committees |
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For Immediate
Release September 20, 2005 |
CONTACT: Cody Wertz – Press Secretary 202-228-3630 Jen Clanahan – Deputy Press Secretary 303-455-7600 |
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| Sen. Salazar
Calls For Investigation Into V.A. Nursing Policies WASHINGTON, D.C. – America’s veterans could receive better health care at V.A. facilities and taxpayers could see budget savings as a result of a requested Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation of hiring practices at the Department of Veterans Affairs. In a letter sent on Tuesday, September 20, United States Senator Ken Salazar, along with Veterans’ Affairs Committee Ranking Member Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI), requested the Government Accountability Office investigate the VA’s practice of contracting for registered nurses rather than hiring full-time nurses. “Sometimes government agencies do things that defy common sense. The VA is facing billion dollar shortfalls and turning away hundreds of thousands of veterans. At the same time it is potentially wasting millions of dollars hiring contract nurses that cost twice as much as full-time employees,” said Salazar. “Colorado’s and America’s veterans do not deserve to be shortchanged while the American taxpayers are being overcharged – this is simply unacceptable.” Like private sector health care facilities, many VA medical facilities are experiencing a shortage of qualified registered nurses and augment their staff by contracting for registered nurses. However, contract or temporary hire nurses are an expensive means of providing VA with a short-term labor supply because of high administrative overhead associated with each hiring. Concerns have also been raised about the quality of care provided by contract nurses, including whether these contract nurses working in VA medical facilities are being held to the same standards used to evaluate employed registered nurses. In addition, the fluctuations in the VA nursing workforce results in varying patient-to-staff ratios and periodic hiring freezes which directly impact the quality of patient care. In the letter, Sen. Salazar and Sen. Akaka ask the GAO to examine the extent and nature of VA hiring of temporary nurses, the costs associated with these hirings, the VA’s policy for background and professional credential checks on potential temporary hires and the VA’s orientation policy for these temporary nurses. Senators Salazar and Akaka also asked the GAO to determine the impacts on patient care of the VA’s existing hiring practices for temporary nurses. “The GAO’s reputation for unbiased investigation will get us to the bottom of this matter quickly and without partisan wrangling. We must ensure the best care possible for our 433,000 veterans in Colorado and 21 million veterans nationwide. If we can save the taxpayers money too, that is all the better,” said Sen. Salazar. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is the official, nonpartisan watchdog over the federal government for Congress. It reviews the programs and expenditures of the federal government at the direction of Congress, evaluating federal programs, auditing federal expenditures, issuing legal opinions and recommending actions as part of its reports. Included below is the text of Sens. Salazar and Akaka’s letter to David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States and head of the GAO:
September 20, 2005
The Honorable David M. Walker Dear Mr. Walker: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employs more than 37,000 registered nurses in its medical facilities. Nearly every veteran who receives care at a VA medical facility will come in contact with a registered nurse. Like private sector health care facilities, many VA medical facilities are experiencing a shortage of qualified registered nurses and augment their staff by contracting for registered nurses. Contract or temporary hires nurses is an expensive means of providing VA with a short- term labor supply. Each time VA hires a locum nurse it generates a requirement for retraining the nurse on duties for which they’ll be assigned. Some believe that the continual retraining of these short-term nurses may be adversely impacting the quality of care provided to our veterans. In addition, a large part of the expense related to the hiring of a locum nurse is the administrative overhead associated with each hiring. The reduction of these administrative costs potentially could result in freeing monies that could be used for other health care priorities and for recruiting full-time nurses on staff. Also of concern is the turbulence in the VA nursing workforce with results in varying patient-to-staff ratios, periodic hiring freezes and the impact these actions have on the quality of patient care, the retention of nurses, and the quality of life for VA’s nursing workforce. We have heard from VA nurses concerning this issue. One of the most compelling examples came from the Minneapolis VAMC, where we were told it costs them, “between $110 and $125 per hour plus an extraordinary amount of overtime and compensation time to cover a position that could have been filled with a $55 per hour employee... In addition, the locums do not do the most acute cases and do not do the extra chores that are essential for continued quality service to our veterans: quality assurance activities, inservice activities, assessment of supplies and new innovations in safety and down the list. They just do cases.” Concerns have also been raised about whether these contract nurses working in VA medical facilities are being held to the same standards used to evaluate employed registered nurses. For example, does VA appropriately screen the professional credentials and personal backgrounds of contract registered nurses prior to their working in VA facilities and how does VA determine whether the contract nurse is clinically competent to provide care to veterans? Failure to ensure that contract nurses are qualified to provide care could have adverse consequences to veterans. We are requesting that GAO determine:
We are also interested in GAO’s view of the impact temporary hires have on both the quality of VA health care, as well as the morale of VA full-time VA health care personnel. If you have any questions about this request, please contact Kim Lipsky or Ted Pusey of my Committee Staff. Sincerely,
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