The federal government’s decision to exclude nursing from its list of “professional degrees” is deeply offensive to every caregiver who has committed their life to healing and protecting our communities. This is not simply a bureaucratic reclassification, it is the federal government targeting Registered Nurses and declaring who is and isn’t a healthcare “professional.” Our healthcare system cannot afford this setback.
Nurses ARE professionals.
For decades they organized to win the dignity and compensation their work has always deserved. They stood with their patients, raised their voices for quality care, and pushed back against a healthcare system that squeezes the people who heal while rewarding executives.
Through every fight, through every crisis, nurses have always been professionals.
This federal decision to strip nursing of its “professional” designation threatens to undermine public trust, reduce access to financial aid, and make it even harder to recruit and retain the workforce our states desperately need. At a time of severe staffing shortages, when nurses and caregivers in both Connecticut and Rhode Island are already stretched to the breaking point, this decision moves us backward.
At a time when the federal government is actively undermining the profession of nursing, 1199NE caregivers will continue to work alongside our legislative champions to strengthen and expand the state programs that protect it. If Washington will not protect the profession of nursing, our states must.