Massachusetts has taken a big step when it comes to addressing the nursing shortage in the state, but some people say it still won’t solve current staffing problems.
On Wednesday, Gov. Maura Healey signed the state’s economic development bill, which included a measure to join the Nurse Licensure Compact. The agreement allows nurses to practice in other NLC-participating states — in person or via telehealth — without having to obtain a new license for that location.
“If you’re licensed in Rhode Island and they’re part of the nurse licensure compact, then you would be able to work in Massachusetts,” explained state Sen. Cindy Friedman, chair of the Health Finance Committee, who supported the measure.
With Massachusetts now included in the NLC, it means all the New England states are in the compact, bringing the total to 42 states and jurisdictions. While it’s been widely adopted, a few states and opponents of the measure argue that it lowers standards for nursing or doesn’t address the key issues facing the industry.
Massachusetts Health Policy Commission, an independent state agency that seeks to improve the affordability of health care for residents, said joining the compact will benefit nurses and the healthcare workforce across Massachusetts.
“The HPC’s examination of the commonwealth’s entry into the Nurse Licensure Compact found multiple benefits for Massachusetts in joining the Compact, including for the oversight of nursing practice in Massachusetts, for health care employers, and for individual nurses,” according to HPC spokesperson Mickey O’Neill.
“Compact membership,” she added, “will also enhance the ability of the Massachusetts health care system to prepare for pandemics, emergencies, and other staffing needs and to facilitate telehealth and other care delivery transformations in the future.”
But joining the compact is not without its critics.
The 25,000-member Massachusetts Nurses Association said the compact has failed to solve the nursing crisis in other parts of the country.
“Compact has failed to address the nursing crisis in states where it has been adopted. Places like Texas, Missouri, and South Carolina — all longtime Compact states — have had much higher nurse vacancy rates than Massachusetts,” Kate Murphy, an ICU nurse and president of the MNA, said in a statement.
According to the National Center for Workforce Analysis, a national nurse workforce shortage of 10% is expected to continue through 2037. The analysis points to a number of factors, including an aging population, nurse burnout and new medical procedures and treatments.
The MNA also said a range of options already exist in Massachusetts to grow the workforce, including the fact that spouses of military personnel can already receive expedited licensure, and out-of-state RNs can secure a license in a timely manner.
In Massachusetts, the MNA has said the nurse vacancy rate is currently lower than the national average, pointing to a 30% increase of RNs since 2019.
The MNA said instead of the state Board of Registration in Nursing conducting appropriate licensure background checks of prospective nurses, with the NLC, an outside third party would do it.
Among the backers of the MNA’s opposition to the NLC are Reps. Stephen Lynch and William Keating, among others.
“The compact is a solution looking for a problem,” the MNA asserts.
Murphy said instead of joining the compact, officials should be focused on keeping nurses at bedsides and addressing workplace violence.
In backing the measure, Friedman, chair of the Health Care Financing Committee, said getting a Massachusetts license for out-of-state nurses is “laborious and expensive,” and a compact will expedite the process.
“Just making it easier to get licensed in Massachusetts when you are a nurse that meets a fairly high standard won’t solve the problem,” Friedman said, “but it will take away another barrier.”
