In our work as palliative care providers, we’ve witnessed firsthand the tremendous benefits hospice care can have. Yet, a severe nurse workforce shortage and an increased need for end-of-life care are putting timely hospice care out of reach for many Oregonians.

Hospices in Oregon are having to triage referrals and wait lists while some have stopped accepting new admissions and other hospices have closed for good due to staffing shortages. This comes at a time when Oregon’s annual death rate has been increasing, not only due to COVID-19 infection but also the effect of the pandemic on patients’ access to care.

Oregon’s nursing workforce shortage predates COVID. The Oregon Employment Department has forecasted that Oregon needs approximately 2,860 RNs each year between 2019-2029 to meet our needs. Yet, Oregon graduated only 1,237 associate and baccalaureate degree nurses in the 2019-2020 school year – less than half the number of nurses needed.

We stand by the Oregon Nurses Association’s request to increase the nursing workforce by raising salaries for nursing faculty, expanding scholarships for nursing students, and exploring the creation of an Oregon Nurse Corps in which nurses serving in areas of greater need could have their loans forgiven.

For Oregonians at end of life, nurses are the backbone of hospice care. Failure to enhance and sustain the nursing workforce, and to ensure equitable distribution of nurses to throughout the state, will be a tragic testament to our current failure to take care of Oregonians from birth through death.

Helen Kao and Barb Hansen

Kao is a doctor with Lumina Hospice & Palliative Care in Corvallis. Hansen is a nurse and CEO of the Oregon Hospice and Palliative Care Association.