ANA Statement on The Third Anniversary of The COVID-19 Pandemic

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Keziah Proctor, keziah.proctor@ana.org 

SILVER SPRING, MD  –  The following statement is attributable to American Nurses Association President Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN:

"The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic of international concern three years ago today. And for nurses, life has never been the same. While the pandemic nearly bent the nursing profession to a breaking point, it has helped to spotlight many of the unchecked work environment challenges that predate COVID-19, and continue to plague nurses daily. We cannot afford to let these issues languish any longer. Among many nurses and stakeholders, the national nurse staffing crisis remains a top issue.

The American Nurses Association (ANA) supports safe patient standards, which includes enforceable nurse-to-patient ratios. There is not a one-size-fits-all approach to nurse staffing ratios, nor is there a magic “number”, but there are some solutions. Besides enforceable, nurse staffing ratios, leaders must ensure that direct care nurses are empowered to assess and decide the appropriate nurse staffing standards through nurse-led committees. We can and we must reshape the profession now and for the future, so nurses can focus on what matters most: providing safe and quality care to patients and communities." 

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