Nearly 70 Department of Veterans Affairs nurses rallied in front of the department’s Washington, D.C., headquarters Thursday to protest staffing cuts they say are hurting the quality of veterans’ medical care.
The nurses, from 23 VA medical facilities across the country, called the expected reduction of 10,000 jobs in the Veterans Health Administration a “hiring freeze.” However, VA officials have said the cuts are coming as a result of attrition and retirements and that hiring will continue for short-staffed, critical positions.
National Nurses United, the union that represents more than 15,000 VA nurses, said there are 66,000 vacancies in the VA health care system, including more than 13,000 nursing positions. The vacancies, union officials argue, are eroding the quality of patient care.
Read Next: The European Reenactors Paying Tribute to D-Day Veterans at Normandy
“While the VA denies there is a hiring freeze, nurses live with it every day and every shift, doing more with less, and patient services are suffering,” said Irma Westmoreland, a registered nurse at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia, who serves as vice president of National Nurses United.
VA officials announced in March that the VHA needed to trim roughly 2% of its staff this year, following record hiring and retention last year.
They said the reductions would come largely through attrition — by not filling positions when employees depart or…
