Hi, Atlanta!

To the 150,000 or so nurses working in Georgia, happy National Nurses Week.

The most trusted profession in America for over 20 years, according to the Gallup Poll, nurses play a huge role in the public health and health care systems. And there aren’t enough of them.

“Our greatest concern remains the shortages in nurses across all settings,” Erica Miles, president of the Georgia Nurses Association, told me this week. Georgia is projected to need more CNAs, RNs, and LPNs than it is producing over the next 10 years, according to data from the Georgia Center for Nursing Excellence.

A nationwide survey of nurses found that many experience burnout and are concerned about workplace safety. Miles said nurses want to help lead change.

“Nurses feel appreciated when their voices are included in decisions that affect them,” she said. “We encourage administrators to have representation in staffing conversations.”

Nurses from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Decatur worry that cuts by the Trump administration could make their jobs harder.

“We are being asked to do more with less, and that’s always a problem. … And we can see this trickling down to the patient care,” Teshara Felder, a steward for National Nurses United who works as an RN at the VA hospital, told us ahead of a recent protest by the union.

The state public health system is hiring nurses. Find job listings here. 

I’d love to learn more about the current challenges in nursing, especially at the community level. Reach out with your concerns — and your solutions.