The ability of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to attract and retain qualified nurses is severely hampered by its lengthy hiring process—and rigid work schedules that scare off prospective employees, said a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released Oct. 24. VA relies on RNs to deliver inpatient care, but the agency faces significant RN recruitment and retention challenges, the report said. GAO examined VA medical center (VAMC) hiring via a Web-based survey of all VAMC nurse executives, interviews and registered nurse (RN) focus groups at eight VAMCs. Among its recommendations, GAO said VA could do more to ease its inflexible work rules. For example, VAMCs were authorized in 2004 to offer RNs alternate work schedules—such as working three 12-hour shifts a week for full-time for pay and benefits. But few nurse executives reported offering these schedules; so few RNs work them, the report said. VAMC nursing officials GAO interviewed reported that hiring also was affected by delays in securing necessary approvals from medical center officials to fill RN vacancies, For example, 44 percent of the nurse executives GAO surveyed reported that it took 45 to 80 days to fill inpatient RN vacancies at VAMCs in 2007, compared to the 24- to 45-day target that VA set. In contrast, VAMC nursing officials said that local hospitals usually hired RNs in less than 21 days. “Maintaining its RN workforce is critical to VA’s provision of care to its veteran population,” the report said. “Studies in general have shown…that a shortage of RNs, especially when combined with increased patient workload, can adversely affect patient outcomes.” To see more, go to: www.gao.gov/highlights/d0917high.pdf.
Federal employees have accumulated thousands of dollars in unpaid parking tickets in the District of Columbia and New York City for illegally parking their government-issued vehicles, said a congressional report released Oct. 24. The report, by House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee staff, found federal employees owed a total of $175,000 for 1,147 unpaid tickets in 2007. About half of the D.C. tickets were for violations of morning or evening rush-hour street parking restrictions, the report said. Even though federal regulations and agency policies state that parking fines are the responsibility of employees, there is no enforcement mechanism to recover the money, the report said. In D.C., the Department of Public Works does not boot or tow government-tagged vehicles “as a matter of long-standing policy,” the report said. At the federal agency level, because there are no consequences for ignoring parking tickets, federal employees have no incentives to pay up or to comply with local parking laws, according to the report. The largest federal government offenders in New York City were the FBI ($34,908), the Department of State ($28,333) and the 1st Marine Corps District ($19,552), the report said. In D.C., the Army, Navy, and Air Force, combined, were issued—and did not pay—158 tickets totaling $27,840. The majority of these tickets were incurred by military recruiters who share space at the downtown Armed Forces Recruiting Center. Recruiters told congressional staffers that they did not pay the tickets because they believed their cars were ticketed in error, the report said. “GSA (General Services Administration) has enabled federal employees who operate government-owned vehicles to simply ignore the law,” said Rep. James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., committee chairman. “By turning a blind eye and failing to provide sufficient oversight, GSA has allowed illegal parking to compromise mobility.” To see more, go to: http://transportation.house.gov/News/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=779.
Some Overseas Ballots May be Invalidated in Va. County
A state law put in place to prevent voter fraud has forced Fairfax County, Va., election officials to disqualify some overseas absentee ballots, county officials said last week. Voters authorized to use the ballots include members of the military, Peace Corps workers and people living overseas. But some of the Virginia absentee ballots do not have the required address for the ballot witness on their voting form. Without the address, the ballot is considered incomplete and can’t be counted, officials said. “Some overseas ballots do not fulfill the requirements of Virginia law, and these ballots cannot be counted,” said Fairfax County General Registrar Rokey Suleman. The witness address mandate goes back to a 2002 state law that was put in place to ensure that only registered voters could vote. “Despite the requirement listed in the instructions, some voters are not aware that the witness needs to provide their address,” said Suleman. “Unfortunately, a missing name and address precludes Fairfax County from counting that vote per state law.” Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. said a bill she introduced last year, H.R. 4237, would have eased such technical restrictions. “Missing a witness signature, the cause being used by the Fairfax clerk, would not be an acceptable reason to disqualify an overseas absentee ballot” under her bill, Maloney said, noting that she will reintroduce the legislation in the next session. To see more, go to: http://maloney.house.gov/index.php?option=content&task
=view&id=1732&Itemid=61 or www.fairfaxcounty.gov/news/2008/244.htm.
