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The Maui News
The head of the Hawaii Nurses' Association said that the current shortage of health care professionals "could have been prevented by Hawaii's hospital leaders," in the wake of Gov. David Ige's decision to allow out-of-state nurses to temporarily practice in Hawaii.
Nurses' Association President Daniel Ross said that while "we appreciate the immediate action" by the governor and state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, "this is a temporary, band-aid solution."
"The current problem we are facing is the result of short-sighted management decisions to save money by under hiring," Ross said in a statement on Friday. "This creates a constant deficit of needed support. The large hospital systems need to take responsibility for this and work harder to rectify it by not only posting positions, but also by offering compensation packages that are truly competitive with those offered to counterparts on the mainland and consider our higher cost of living."
On Thursday, Ige approved emergency rules allowing nurses from out of state to practice in Hawaii by endorsement and submission of a list of required information from a health care entity. The governor cited COVID-19's continued strain on the state's health care system and "serious staffing challenges and conditions" in hospitals.
Hilton Raethel, president and CEO of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, also supported the move, saying that hospitals continue to be full and many staff are out due to exposure to or symptoms of COVID-19.
Ross, however, questioned why the emergency ruling only applies to nurses.
"Respiratory therapists are also licensed and face the same staffing challenges in our hospitals," Ross said. "The shortage of respiratory therapists also poses a serious risk to the public because RTS are not able to respond to patients in a timely manner."
Ross said the emergency solution doesn't address the root cause of the issue and instead "enables behavior that perpetuate future crises."