VA nurses are in short supply. Unions say Trump's deferred resignation plan could make things worse

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

VA nurses are in short supply. Unions say Trump’s deferred resignation plan could make things worse

By CARLA K. JOHNSON and BRIAN WITTE
Updated 4:54 PM EST, February 5, 2025

For the federal government’s largest group of employees — nurses caring for military veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs — the Trump administration’s deferred resignation offer and its looming Thursday deadline come amid longstanding staffing shortages, deemed severe at more than half of all facilities.

Unions are discouraging nurses from accepting the offer, and leaders say an exodus would directly and immediately affect the care of its 9.1 million enrolled veterans.

“We’re already facing a staffing crisis in our hospitals,” said Irma Westmoreland, a registered nurse who heads the Veterans Affairs unit for National Nurses United. “We cannot afford to lose any more staff.”

Nurses for the VA — the federal government’s largest employer — comprise the biggest single group of federal workers, numbering more than 100,000 and accounting for 5% of all full-time permanent employees, according to an Associated Press analysis of personnel data.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/nurses-military-veterans-affairs-trump-deferred-resignation-c6b6969c49038bf1359d6980cd1cae0d

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

1. Trump believes they're all suckers and losers

[Aristus]

2. The veterans who voted for him certainly are.

I would hate to say that they should get everything they deserve. But their fecklessness will cause suffering for millions of veterans who don't deserve it. So fuck 'em. And I hope their Trump vote bites them in the ass so hard, they will split in two.