The head of Hawai‘i’s largest nurses’ union is backing off a proposed option to help address the state’s nursing shortage.
When former Gov. David Ige issued an emergency proclamation allowing mainland nurses to work in Hawaiʻi during the pandemic, the union began exploring the idea of entering a reciprocal nursing license agreement.
It would mean joining a group of states that allow nurses licensed in one state to practice in other member states.
Daniel Ross, president of the Hawaiʻi Nurses' Association, said now he is concerned there could be “unintended consequences.”
He said participating could impact local nursing regulations, and he would like to work within the existing infrastructure.
Ross, also a nurse of 31 years, said more work needs to be done to retain local nurses or train the next generation of health care workers.
"Just a few short years ago, before the pandemic, none of our hospitals were hiring new graduate nurses. They couldn't get jobs here in Hawai‘i," he said. "So we had to push on hospitals, and it was right at the beginning of COVID, to start hiring new grads."
"They did and now they're kind of going a little bit too far in the other direction in my opinion. We want new grads, we need new grads, we need to keep that constant pipe flow going. But that is not enough," he said.
Ross said there cannot be too many new graduates at the same time, in the same area without more experienced nurses.
"We need to be able to recruit them to come here from the mainland, already experienced nurses. And we need to keep the ones that we have here in Hawai‘i," he said.
Ross said that there are some 150 traveling nurses working at The Queen’s Health System on any given day.
Meanwhile, two measures at the state Legislature, HB 667 and 1264, seek to enter Hawaiʻi into the multi-state Nurse Licensure Compact, which already has 36 states.
Washington state, Oregon, California and Nevada are not part of the compact. But Washington and Oregon have introduced similar legislation this year.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Feb. 1, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
