POOL NURSES

WHEREAS, use of nursing pools diminishes the credibility and commitment of the nursing profession by generating inconsistency in patient care in health care institutions; and

WHEREAS, pools increasingly have been utilized by health care institutions as a temporary supplement and solution to their own staffing problems; and

WHEREAS, institutions which utilize pool personnel:

• usually provide no orientation, leaving that to any permanent staff member who may be on duty, further detracting from attention to patient needs;

• have no commitment to the pool nurse;

• do not address the causes of staffing shortages which leads to further use of the pools;

• do not recognize the frustration of their permanent staff members who are required to work along side a pool nurse who is paid at a higher pool rate but has significantly less responsibility to quality patient care because of the transient nature of pool nursing:

RESOLVED, that American Federation of Teachers/Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals support any legislation which would discourage the use of pool nurses and encourage the development and retention of a stable, qualified, permanent staff.