“This affects everyone”: Paragould nurse joins march in Washington D.C.

PARAGOULD, Ark. (KAIT) - Sisters and brothers in scrubs united, as nurses marched in Washington D.C. to fight for change in their field.

A nurse from Northeast Arkansas was one of those in the march at the nation’s capital.

Crissy Landreth has worked as a nurse since 2013.

After years of stress in the workplace, she now works from home as a nurse case manager.

“This affects everyone,” she said. “Everyone should be knowledgeable about how they can change things.”

Landreth joined thousands of other nurses during a march to the White House, demanding change in patient-nurse ratio, workplace safety, and better pay.

“Unless we start the movement of change and start the dialogue, we are going to get nowhere, and we are going to lose more nurses to the profession,” Erin Keith said, who also participated in the march.

Both women said they feel like healthcare systems are putting profit over safety for patients and nurses.

They hope the march helps open lawmakers’ eyes and creates necessary change.

“Fight for the things you care about but do it in a way that would lead others to join you and that was exactly what the march was about,” said another nurse, Kimberly Petsalis.

Many of the nurses’ challenges were only made worse during the pandemic. This forced them to leave the field, which has put even more of a strain on the system.

There are two bills that would address some of the issues nurses are worried about, HR 3165 and HR 1195, both of which set standards for nurse-patient ratio and address workplace violence.

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