I am writing to express my strong opposition to the OUTRAGEOUS 64% increase in RN license fee renewal. This proposition is not only infuriating, but will only exacerbate many of the issues plaguing our profession today. Nurses have spent many of the last few years enduring a global pandemic, working under extreme conditions, and often without adequate pay increases to match inflation. Many of us are still recovering emotionally, financially, and physically from being on the frontlines, and this is what the BON decides to prioritize? It's absolutely insane that in an era where nurses are leaving the profession due to burnout, stagnant wages, and unsafe working conditions, the proposed solution is to charge those who remain in the profession even more just to keep doing their jobs.

For many of us this isn't just inconvenient, its insulting. Nurses are already struggling to afford basic needs like rent, groceries, and gas. For years we have gone without meaningful pay raises despite taking on more responsibilities, longer hours, and heavier patient loads. The irony is rich that in a time of nursing shortages, you are prioritizing something that only makes it harder to stay in the profession. If you insist on increasing fees, why are you not advocating for salary increases? For our safety? For mandatory nurse to patient ratio caps? 

I compel the BON to find other ways of fixing their budget that exclude robbing the people it supposedly advocates for.