AURORA, Colo. — Members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC) and National Nurse United (NNU) rallied outside the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center Thursday afternoon. The union said it wanted to raise awareness to the staffing shortages in the VA system.
"It puts us into a mode of crisis staffing where we’re limited on the type of skilled nursing, staff to provide quality care to our patients," local NNU Director Sharda Fornnarino said. She said she believes the Department of Veterans Affairs isn't hiring nurses due to budget cuts. The union calls it a "hiring freeze," and claims it's impacting nurse-to-veteran care.
"Our upper management, our congresspeople, VA secretary, we’re pleading to them that the veterans deserve better," Fornnarino said. Credit: KUSA Fornnarino said veteran care is a topic she is personally touched by, outside of her role at the hospital. "I’m a veteran myself, and I want to give quality care to our veterans," Fornnarino said.
"I'm not ready to retire, but I need to make sure that by the time I’m ready to retire, I get quality care." Credit: KUSA ICU nurse Jordan LeBlanc said he took a job at the VA hospital two years ago because he wanted to serve American heroes. "I think our veterans are one of the most gracious and deserving populations that there are, and typically they’ll share their experiences with me that I’ll never have the opportunity to have," LeBlanc said.
LeBlanc said the staffing shortages he's seen .
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