[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3588 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
109th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3588
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize capitation grants
to increase the number of nursing faculty and students, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 28, 2006
Mr. Durbin (for himself and Ms. Mikulski) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize capitation grants
to increase the number of nursing faculty and students, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Nurse Education, Expansion, and
Development Act of 2006''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) While the Nurse Reinvestment Act (Public Law 107-205)
helped to increase applications to schools of nursing by 175
percent, schools of nursing have been unable to accommodate the
influx of interested students because they have an insufficient
number of nurse educators. It is estimated that--
(A) in the 2005-2006 school year--
(i) 66 percent of schools of nursing had
both 1 to 16 vacant faculty positions and
needed additional faculty; and
(ii) an additional 15.7 percent of schools
of nursing needed additional faculty, but
lacked the resources needed to add more
positions; and
(B) 41,683 eligible candidates were denied
admission to schools of nursing in 2005, primarily due
to an insufficient number of faculty members.
(2) A growing number of nurses with doctoral degrees are
choosing careers outside of education. Over the last few years,
there has been a 12 percent increase in doctoral nursing
graduates seeking employment outside the education profession.
(3) The average age of nurse faculty at retirement is 62.5
years. With the average age of doctorally-prepared professors
currently at 57.5 years, a wave of retirements is expected
within the next 10 years.
(4) Master's and doctoral programs in nursing are not
producing a large enough pool of potential nurse educators to
meet the projected demand for nurses over the next 10 years.
While graduations from master's and doctoral programs in
nursing rose by 10.5 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively, in
the 2005-2006 school year, projections still demonstrate a
shortage of nurse faculty. Given current trends, there will be
at least 2,616 unfilled faculty positions in 2012.
(5) According to the November 2005 Monthly Labor Review
from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 1,200,000 new
and replacement nurses will be needed by 2014.
SEC. 3. CAPITATION GRANTS TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF NURSING FACULTY AND
STUDENTS.
(a) Grants.--Part D of title VIII of the Public Health Service Act
(42 U.S.C. 296p) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 832. CAPITATION GRANTS.
``(a) In General.--For the purpose described in subsection (b), the
Secretary, acting through the Health Resources and Services
Administration, shall award a grant each fiscal year in an amount
determined in accordance with subsection (c) to each eligible school of
nursing that submits an application in accordance with this section.
``(b) Purpose.--A funding agreement for a grant under this section
is that the eligible school of nursing involved will expend the grant
to increase the number of nursing faculty and students at the school,
including by hiring new faculty, retaining current faculty, purchasing
educational equipment and audiovisual laboratories, enhancing clinical
laboratories, repairing and expanding infrastructure, or recruiting
students.
``(c) Grant Computation.--
``(1) Amount per student.--Subject to paragraph (2), the
amount of a grant to an eligible school of nursing under this
section for a fiscal year shall be the total of the following,
as determined by the Secretary:
``(A) Not to exceed $1,800 for each full-time or
part-time student who is enrolled at the school in a
graduate program in nursing that--
``(i) leads to a master's degree, a
doctoral degree, or an equivalent degree; and
``(ii) prepares individuals to serve as
faculty through additional course work in
education and ensuring competency in an
advanced practice area.
``(B) Not to exceed $1,405 for each full-time or
part-time student who--
``(i) is enrolled at the school in a
program in nursing leading to a bachelor of
science degree, a bachelor of nursing degree, a
graduate degree in nursing if such program does
not meet the requirements of subparagraph (A),
or an equivalent degree; and
``(ii) has not more than 3 years of
academic credits remaining in the program.
``(C) Not to exceed $966 for each full-time or
part-time student who is enrolled at the school in a
program in nursing leading to an associate degree in
nursing or an equivalent degree.
``(2) Limitation.--In calculating the amount of a grant to
a school under paragraph (1), the Secretary may not make a
payment with respect to a particular student--
``(A) for more than 2 fiscal years in the case of a
student described in paragraph (1)(A) who is enrolled
in a graduate program in nursing leading to a master's
degree or an equivalent degree;
``(B) for more than 4 fiscal years in the case of a
student described in paragraph (1)(A) who is enrolled
in a graduate program in nursing leading to a doctoral
degree or an equivalent degree;
``(C) for more than 3 fiscal years in the case of a
student described in paragraph (1)(B); or
``(D) for more than 2 fiscal years in the case of a
student described in paragraph (1)(C).
``(d) Eligibility.--For purposes of this section, the term
`eligible school of nursing' means a school of nursing that--
``(1) is accredited by a nursing accrediting agency
recognized by the Secretary of Education;
``(2) has a passage rate on the National Council Licensure
Examination for Registered Nurses of not less than 80 percent
for each of the 3 school years preceding submission of the
grant application; and
``(3) has a graduation rate (based on the number of
students in a class who graduate relative to, for a
baccalaureate program, the number of students who were enrolled
in the class at the beginning of junior year or, for an
associate degree program, the number of students who were
enrolled in the class at the end of the first year) of not less
than 80 percent for each of the 3 school years preceding
submission of the grant application.
``(e) Requirements.--The Secretary may award a grant under this
section to an eligible school of nursing only if the school gives
assurances satisfactory to the Secretary that, for each school year for
which the grant is awarded, the school will comply with the following:
``(1) The school will maintain a passage rate on the
National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses of
not less than 80 percent.
``(2) The school will maintain a graduation rate (as
described in subsection (d)(3)) of not less than 80 percent.
``(3)(A) Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), the first-
year enrollment of full-time nursing students in the school
will exceed such enrollment for the preceding school year by 5
percent or 5 students, whichever is greater.
``(B) Subparagraph (A) does not apply to the first school
year for which a school receives a grant under this section.
``(4) Not later than 1 year after receipt of the grant, the
school will formulate and implement a plan to accomplish at
least 2 of the following:
``(A) Establishing or significantly expanding an
accelerated baccalaureate degree nursing program
designed to graduate new nurses in 12 to 18 months.
``(B) Establishing cooperative intradisciplinary
education among schools of nursing with a view toward
shared use of technological resources, including
information technology.
``(C) Establishing cooperative interdisciplinary
training between schools of nursing and schools of
allied health, medicine, dentistry, osteopathy,
optometry, podiatry, pharmacy, public health, or
veterinary medicine, including training for the use of
the interdisciplinary team approach to the delivery of
health services.
``(D) Integrating core competencies on evidence-
based practice, quality improvements, and patient-
centered care.
``(E) Increasing admissions, enrollment, and
retention of qualified individuals who are financially
disadvantaged.
``(F) Increasing enrollment of minority and diverse
student populations.
``(G) Increasing enrollment of new graduate
baccalaureate nursing students in graduate programs
that educate nurse faculty members.
``(H) Developing post-baccalaureate residency
programs to prepare nurses for practice in specialty
areas where nursing shortages are most severe.
``(I) Increasing integration of geriatric content
into the core curriculum.
``(J) Partnering with economically disadvantaged
communities to provide nursing education.
``(K) Expanding the ability of nurse managed health
centers to provide clinical education training sites to
nursing students.
``(5) The school will submit an annual report to the
Secretary that includes updated information on the school with
respect to student enrollment, student retention, graduation
rates, passage rates on the National Council Licensure
Examination for Registered Nurses, the number of graduates
employed as nursing faculty or nursing care providers within 12
months of graduation, and the number of students who are
accepted into graduate programs for further nursing education.
``(6) The school will allow the Secretary to make on-site
inspections, and will comply with the Secretary's requests for
information, to determine the extent to which the school is
complying with the requirements of this section.
``(f) Reports to Congress.--The Secretary shall evaluate the
results of grants under this section and submit to the Congress--
``(1) not later than 18 months after the date of the
enactment of this section, an interim report on such results;
and
``(2) not later than the end of fiscal year 2009, a final
report on such results.
``(g) Application.--To seek a grant under this section, a school
nursing shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in
such manner, and containing such information and assurances as the
Secretary may require.
``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--
``(1) In general.--For the costs of carrying out this
section (except the costs described in paragraph (2)), there
are authorized to be appropriated $75,000,000 for fiscal year
2007, $85,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, and $95,000,000 for
fiscal year 2009.
``(2) Administrative costs.--For the costs of administering
this section, including the costs of evaluating the results of
grants and submitting reports to the Congress, there are
authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for
each of fiscal years 2007, 2008, and 2009.''.
(b) GAO Study.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the
United States shall conduct a study and submit a report to the
Congress on ways to increase participation in the nurse faculty
profession.
(2) Contents of report.--The report required by paragraph
(1) shall include the following:
(A) A discussion of the master's degree and
doctoral degree programs that are successful in placing
graduates as faculty in schools of nursing.
(B) An examination of compensation disparities
throughout the nursing profession and compensation
disparities between higher education instructional
faculty generally and higher education instructional
nursing faculty.
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