• Getting what is due to me

Valdostans are getting “hosed” by Mediacom.

I called a while back and was told Mediacom would automatically credit customer bills for the outage caused by the flooding. When my bill arrived the credit was $17 or so. I did the math and for my level of service, that represents 12 percent, or 3-4 days of service. So I called again and the operator said my outage was three days. I disputed this and asked him to check their records. He than came back and said my outage was April 16-24, nine days. That still doesn’t sound right as I think it was more like 15-20 days. So I called again this morning and was told everybody in Valdosta got the same credit, three days. The operator could not tell me how many days I was actually out of service nor could she tell me how Mediacom figured the credit. I asked for a supervisor and got the same “company line.” This person reluctantly agreed to give me credit for the nine days, which by the way was just pulled out of the air. So it seems the company is hoping Valdostans will be pleased to get the 12 percent credit and just drop the matter. To get credit for the full outage each customer must call Mediacom individually and make the request. Surely Mediacom has a record of the exact dates of the outage.

Thanks for your time.

Andy Patterson

Valdosta

• Working together to combat the shortage

In response to the June 2 editorial entitled, “The need continues to grow,” I would like to congratulate Valdosta State University on the receipt of a much-deserved grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration. This accomplishment by Dean Hufft and her staff is an example of the type of commitment and partnership that will be necessary from nurse leaders at the local, state and federal level if we are to address the severe, ongoing nursing shortage in the U.S.

Georgia ranks in the top ten in the severity of its nursing workforce shortage. Data from the U.S. Department of Labor and HRSA indicates an RN shortfall in Georgia of over 20,000 by 2012, growing to over 32,000 by 2020. In the best-case scenario, it is estimated that the state will only be able to produce a maximum of 15,000 of the needed 20,000 RNs by the year 2012 with the gap widening even further by 2020.

As a longtime member and active volunteer in the Georgia Nurses Association (GNA), I can validate that the next several years will be crucial in addressing the nursing shortage. GNA is the state’s oldest and largest professional organization for RNs, and we consider the nursing shortage a top priority. We have advocated at the local and state levels for increased funding for a nursing workforce center, workforce data collection and recruitment and retention efforts. In addition, the Georgia Nurses Foundation provides scholarships to future nursing leaders who are committed to excellence in their field and to the care of those in need.

To truly address the shortage, nurses must collaborate with leaders in government, business and academia to increase nursing school capacity, retain nurse faculty, establish nursing workforce centers, advocate for proper funding and more.