Ill. Gov. JB Pritzker says the state is considering giving temporary licenses to nursing students who are near graduation and mostly trained so they can help in the fight against the novel coronavirus. Judy Neubrander, dean of Illinois State University nursing college, supports the idea and said about 170 ISU nursing students are to graduate in May and could be offered temporary intern roles at hospitals.

Illinois is seeking nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and licensed practical nurses to staff temporary medical facilities being built to care for patients with COVID-19. The state is issuing temporary practice permits good through September, so recently retired professionals or those whose licenses have lapsed can help with coronavirus patients.

Let us know what is happening. We are conducting a survey of all RNs and APRNs to learn about their experiences with COVID-19. This information will be very helpful for us to understand the experience and concerns of nurses. We will use this information to help nurses move the profession forward. Take the survey.

We know that nurses have solutions to address the issues in our health care systems, and we also know that nurses have a unique understanding of their communities. In 2018, with the support of then ANA-Illinois president Dan Fraczkowski MS, RN-BC, ANA-Illinois became committed to sharing details about the campaigns of nurses from Illinois running for national, state, and local offices. This practice continues, and this year we have several nurses who have alerted us of their campaigns. If you know other nurses seeking office, please have them reach out to us. We are happy to publicize their campaigns on the NURSES4NURSES page of our advocacy portal.