Last year at the Montefiore Medical Center when overcrowding was at its worst. 60 to 80 beds a day were out of operation as a result of staffing shortages. Twentyfive patients a night were forced to sleep on gurneys in the emergency room. New Jersey hospitals. with 17 percent nurse vacancy rates. report that 10 percent of their registered nurses are on Hi visas. Without this legislation. over 1.000 of these nurses will be out of status next year. California hospitals with a 9percent nurse vacancy rate and 19percent turnover as of last year. report that a significant number of nurses will lose their status next year. The Immigration and Naturalization Service [INS] estimates that 16.000 nurses may be able to adjust their status under the permanent residency provisions of this legislation. By conservative estimates. 2.000 to 2.500 nurses will be out of status without this legislation. H.R. 3259 recognizes that the nursing shortage will not be solved by temporary foreign workers. and therefore encourages facilities to implement measures to recruit and retain U.S. and immigrant nurses. At the same time. it acknowledges that these temporary nurses have become indispensable in serving critically ill patients and assisting overworked U.S. nurses. Faced with a growing number of patients requiring extensive and intensive careAIDS victims. crack addicts. and the elderlywe cannot afford to lase beds and experienced nurses.
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Naturalization Immigration visas immigrant