United Nurse March Missouri Chapter

100 Madison Street,Jefferson City MO 65101

12 May, 2022

Description

This march/rally will be a moment to celebrate nurses and honor all healthcare workers. Press Release ​May 2022 United Nurse March St Louis Chapter Subject: March/Rally at the Missouri State Capitol to focus on Nurses Rights. The march/rally will highlight the National Nurses March taking at the Missouri State Capital, across the United States, and in Washington D.C. Thousands of healthcare workers around the country are gathering collectively in their home states to show solidarity in the fight for legislation on safe patient ratios, the standard of care, preventing capping nurses’ pay and fair compensation, violence in health care as well as changing the culture of bias and discrimination in health care. ​In Missouri, hundreds of healthcare workers are expected to attend this statewide event with a rallying point at 100 Madison Street in Jefferson City at 9 am with the march to the North Side of the Missouri State Capital Building at 201 W. Capital Ave. shortly after. There will be several guest speakers from the capital who will address the healthcare workers and share experiences in why there is such a push for nursing care reform. Health care workers will then branch off from the state’s capital building and meet with legislators before they break for the session to discuss thoughts and views about the rally’s purpose. ​Furthermore, the fire behind these nationwide rallies came after legislators wanted to introduce bills that would cap travel nurses’ pay. Travel nursing pay was brought to the attention of legislation when the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living, Leading Age sent letters to officials in the White House asking for an investigation into nursing travel agencies’ alleged price gouging. Petitions were then sent to Congress asking for federal agencies to get involved in the auditing of nurse travel agencies. Once nurses and healthcare workers found out about this letter and the bills being introduced, there was a tremendous amount of pushback. These proposed actions and restrictions are why there is a need for healthcare reform; moreover, this caused the march/rally to gain momentum and national attention. For Missouri, the bill introduced to cap travel nursing wages was House Bill 2605, proposed by Gregory Kurtis. House Bill 2605 has been placed on the informal perfection calendar with no current hearing date. House Bill 2605 prompted a state-wide outrage from Missouri nurses, who are now to marching/rallying to bring awareness about the healthcare reform they are looking for. Currently, House Bill 1232, proposed by LaDonna Appelbaum, supports one of the points the march/rally is trying to bring awareness to, which is, safe nurse-patient ratios to provide safe and effective patient care. With the need for health care reform and the hundreds of healthcare workers gathering to push for reform, will the change come? If you would like to speak during the nurse rally/march, please email the admins at [email protected] so we can add you to the agenda. Let your voices to be heard.