Now that both sides clearly have the attention of the other, leaders say they hope the opening salvos give way to more temperate discussions about how to move more skilled providers to the front lines.

“Health professionals are a smart and clever lot,” says Mary Stahl, RN, MSN, ACNS-BC, CCNS-CMC, CCRN, immediate past president of AACN and a clinical nurse specialist at the Mid America Heart Institute at Saint Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, Mo. “I’m confident we’ll develop an effective solution—maybe several—by focusing on the fundamental belief that patients’ needs must drive caregivers’ knowledge and skills.”

Bryn Nelson is a freelance medical writer in Seattle.

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