Nurses warn of statewide staffing crisis: faculty pay, burnout and violence limit pipeline

Margaret Love, president of the Arkansas Nurses Association, and Neil Reeves, the association’s health policy chair, told the Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee that nurse staffing shortages present a patient-safety risk and threaten care quality across Arkansas.

"I am the current president of the Arkansas Nurses Association," Love said, summarizing the association's workforce findings and national sources. The presenters cited about 27,320 actively employed registered nurses in Arkansas and said many hospitals report demand exceeds supply.

Reeves told lawmakers that national research identifies nurse staffing shortage as the top patient-safety hazard. The presenters described several drivers: loss of younger nurses within two to three years of practice, an inadequate supply of nurse educators (with educator pay trailing bedside wages by roughly $2,000–$3,000), and increased workplace violence and burnout that contribute to early exits.

The association recommended policy steps that include better data collection on where licensed clinicians go after leaving, stronger nurse input on staffing decisions (for example, staffing committees whose recommendations are followed), raising nurse educator pay to retain faculty and targeted recruitment of men and minority candidates to diversify the pipeline.

Love and Reeves said they will provide the committee the association’s workforce report and related data. They also announced a nurses' day at the Capitol planned for the 23rd, when roughly 450 nurses and students are expected to attend. Committee members thanked presenters and asked for the report to be distributed electronically. No votes or formal committee actions were taken.