Letter to the Editor - Reducing professional standards will make things worse

Dear editor,

“The true measure of any society is found in how it treats its most vulnerable members” — M. Gandhi

Having spent our over 40 year careers in Montana as a licensed social worker and physical therapist, we are alarmed at the unraveling of our communities in terms of getting help and resources for our most vulnerable members. Our ability to safely and compassionately care for older adults, persons who are cognitively or physically impaired, mentally ill persons and students is strained.

A solution being offered is decreasing the professional requirements of those who work in nursing homes, care facilities and schools to get more staff. In long-term care facilities, licensed practical nurses would be substituted for the registered nurses who have always had a wider scope of practice experience to more fully assess, and treat residents. This decreases overall quality of care for those who reside or get rehabilitation in those facilities.

Reducing the required qualifications of Montana teachers, psychologists and other school professionals in the midst of skyrocketing mental health concerns, is a recipe for poor educational outcomes, tragedies and future litigation due to persons being placed in situations that they are truly not professionally prepared to handle.

Let’s move forward and find other solutions — career ladders, increased educational opportunities and better benefits that can attract experienced professionals to work and thrive. Let’s not lower the bar. Decreasing standards is not the safe or prudent answer to staff vacancies in Montana.

Nona Chambers and Stephen Wiltzen

Bozeman