I
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4001
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 30, 2007
Mr. Boustany introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To amend title VIII of the Public Health Service Act to expand the nurse student loan program, to establish grant programs to address the nursing shortage, to amend title VII of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for a nurse faculty pilot project, and for other purposes.
Short title
This Act may be cited as
the Nursing Education Opportunities
Act
.
Findings
Congress finds the following:
The American Hospital Association reported in July 2007 that United States hospitals need approximately 116,000 registered nurses to fill vacant positions nationwide.
To address the shortage of qualified nurses, schools of nursing have developed accelerated, second-baccalaureate degree programs in nursing. In 2005, these programs graduated 3,769 students. The number of accelerated degree graduates in 2006 was 5,236. This is an additional 1,467 nursing graduates in 1 year.
Despite the nurse
shortage and efforts to increase the pool of qualified nurses, schools of
nursing struggle to increase student capacity. According to the American
Association of Colleges of Nursing (referred to in this Act as the
AACN
), United States nursing schools turned away nearly 43,000
qualified applicants in 2006 primarily due to an insufficient number of
faculty.
The AACN reported in July 2006, a total of 637 faculty vacancies at 329 nursing schools with baccalaureate or graduate programs, or both, across the Nation. Besides the vacancies, schools cited the need to create an additional 55 faculty positions to accommodate student demand. Most of the vacancies (53.7 percent) were faculty positions requiring a doctoral degree.
In 2007, the Association of Academic Health Centers surveyed chief executive officers (CEOs) from academic health centers regarding faculty shortages across various health professions. The CEOs rated the nursing faculty shortage as the most severe of all health professions with 81 percent noting the nursing faculty shortage as a problem.
The average ages of doctorally-prepared nurse faculty holding the ranks of professor, associate professor, and assistant professor are 58.6, 55.8, and 51.6 years, respectively. Considering the average age of nurse faculty at retirement is 62.5 years, a wave of nurse faculty retirements is expected in the next decade.
Master's and doctoral programs in nursing are not producing a large enough pool of potential nurse educators to meet the demand. In 2006, the AACN found that graduations from doctoral nursing programs were up by only 1.4 percent from the previous academic year.
Nurses are vital to the Nation's health care delivery system. Due to the nurse shortage, patient safety and quality of care are at risk. Given the findings described in paragraphs (1) through (7), measures must be taken to address the nurse shortage and nursing faculty shortage.
Nursing student loan program
Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. et seq.) is amended—
in section
835(b)(4), by inserting (including a student in an accelerated nursing
degree program who is pursuing a second baccalaureate degree or a master's
degree as an entry level nursing degree)
after graduate degree
in nursing
; and
in section 836—
in subsection (a)—
by
striking $2,500
and inserting $4,400
;
by
striking $4,000
and inserting $7,000
; and
by striking
$13,000
and inserting $22,900
; and
in subsection (b)—
in
paragraph (1), by inserting (including a student in an accelerated
nursing degree program who is pursuing a second baccalaureate degree or a
master's degree as an entry level nursing degree)
after graduate
degree in nursing
; and
in
paragraph (2), by inserting (including a student in an accelerated
nursing degree program who is pursuing a second baccalaureate degree
after equivalent degree
.
Accelerated nursing degree programs
Section 801(3) of the Public Health Service
Act (42 U.S.C. 296(3)) is amended by inserting (including an accelerated
nursing degree program
before and including
.
Advanced education nursing grants
Section 811(f)(2) of the Public Health
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296j(f)(2)) is amended by striking the period at the end
and inserting , except in the case of a nurse faculty shortage, the
Secretary may, in the Secretary's discretion, obligate more than 10 percent of
such traineeships for individuals in doctoral degree programs.
.
Grant program for doctoral nursing programs
Part D of title VIII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296p et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
Grant program for doctoral nursing programs
In general
The Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities to enable the eligible entities to establish doctoral nursing degree programs.
Eligible entity
In this section, the term eligible entity means an entity that is 1 of the eligible entities as such term is defined in section 801.
Application
An eligible entity that desires a grant under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such information as the Secretary may require.
Selection of grant recipients
Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of the Nursing Education Opportunities Act, the Secretary shall establish requirements and procedures for the administration of grants under this section and procedures for selecting grant recipients. In awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall consider the following:
Doctoral nursing program distribution
Providing priority to eligible entities located in States in which there are no doctoral nursing degree programs.
Geographic distribution
Providing an equitable geographic distribution of such grants.
Rural and urban areas
Distributing such grants to rural and urban areas.
Prior experience or exceptional programs
Whether the eligible entity has demonstrated—
prior experience in, or exceptional programs for, the preparation of baccalaureate prepared nurses or master's prepared nurses; and
an interest in establishing a doctoral nursing degree program.
Grant amount
Each grant awarded under this section shall be equal to not more than $2,000,000.
Grant duration
A grant awarded under this section shall be for a period of not more than 5 years.
Use of funds
An eligible entity that receives a grant under this section shall use the grant funds to establish a doctoral nursing degree program, including—
hiring administrators, faculty, and staff;
retaining current faculty;
developing doctoral curriculum;
repairing and expanding infrastructures;
purchasing educational equipment;
developing and enhancing clinical laboratories;
recruiting students;
establishing technology infrastructures; and
other investments determined necessary by the eligible entity for the development of a doctoral nursing degree program.
Authorization of appropriations
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section not more than $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.
.
Doctoral nursing consortia pilot project
Part D of title VIII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296p et seq.), as amended by section 6, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
Doctoral nursing consortia pilot project
Purpose
The purpose of the pilot project under this section is to provide grants to partnerships of eligible entities to establish consortia to enhance and expand the availability of doctoral nurse faculty and education by enabling the partners involved to share doctoral faculty and programmatic resources so that the nursing faculty shortage does not further inhibit the preparation of future nurses or nurse faculty.
In general
The Secretary shall award grants to partnerships of eligible entities to enable the partnerships to establish doctoral nursing consortia.
Definitions
In this section:
Doctoral nursing consortium
The term doctoral nursing consortium means a partnership that includes 2 or more of—
eligible entities within the same State;
eligible entities within different States; or
eligible entities establishing a doctoral nursing program.
Eligible entity
The term eligible entity has the meaning given the term in section 832(b).
Application
A partnership of eligible entities that desires a grant under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such information as the Secretary may require. Such partnership may apply for a grant under this section each year of the pilot project.
Selection
Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of the Nursing Education Opportunities Act, the Secretary shall establish requirements and procedures for the administration of grants under this section and procedures for selecting grant recipients.
Consideration in making awards
In awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall consider the following:
Prior experience or exceptional programs
Eligible entities that have demonstrated prior experience in, or exceptional programs for, the preparation of—
doctorally prepared nursing faculty and nursing researchers; and
baccalaureate prepared nurses or master's prepared nurses.
Geographic distribution
Providing an equitable geographic distribution of such grants.
Rural and urban areas
Distributing such grants to rural and urban areas.
New grantees
Awarding grants to eligible entities that have not previously received a grant under this section.
Grant amount
The Secretary shall determine the amount of each grant awarded under this section based on the purpose of this section, which amount shall not be more than $500,000.
Use of funds
A partnership of eligible entities that receives a grant under this section shall use the grant funds to establish a doctoral nursing consortium that shall share doctoral faculty and programmatic resources, such as—
establishing technology infrastructures;
developing shared doctoral curriculum;
hiring faculty and staff;
retaining current faculty;
providing travel stipends for nursing faculty who agree to teach nursing courses at another eligible entity within the doctoral nursing consortium;
providing scholarships for post-doctoral fellows who agree to teach a nursing course within the nursing doctoral consortium;
providing collaborative networks for nursing research; and
other investments determined necessary by the eligible entities for use within the doctoral nursing consortium.
Grant duration
The pilot project under this section shall be for a period of not more than 5 years.
Authorization of appropriations
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section not more than $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.
.
Nurse faculty pilot project
Title VII of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1133 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
NURSE FACULTY PILOT PROJECT
Purposes
The purposes of this part are to create a pilot program—
to provide scholarships to qualified nurses in pursuit of an advanced degree with the goal of becoming faculty members in an accredited nursing program; and
to provide grants to partnerships between accredited schools of nursing and hospitals or health facilities to fund release time for qualified nurse employees, so that those employees can earn a salary while obtaining an advanced degree in nursing with the goal of becoming nurse faculty.
Assistance authorized
Competitive grants authorized
The Secretary may, on a competitive basis, award grants to, and enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with, partnerships composed of an accredited school of nursing at an institution of higher education and a hospital or health facility to establish not more than 5 pilot projects to enable such hospital or health facility to retain its staff of experienced nurses while providing a mechanism to have these individuals become, through an accelerated nursing education program, faculty members of an accredited school of nursing.
Duration; Evaluation and Dissemination
Duration
Grants under this part shall be awarded for a period of 3 to 5 years.
Mandatory evaluation and dissemination
Grants under this part shall be primarily used for evaluation, and dissemination to other institutions of higher education, of the information obtained through the activities described in section 781(2).
Considerations in making awards
In awarding grants and entering into contracts and cooperative agreements under this section, the Secretary shall consider the following:
Geographic distribution
Providing an equitable geographic distribution of such grants.
Rural and urban areas
Distributing such grants to urban and rural areas.
Range and type of institution
Ensuring that the activities to be assisted are developed for a range of types and sizes of institutions of higher education.
Prior experience or exceptional programs
Institutions of higher education with demonstrated prior experience in providing advanced nursing education programs to prepare nurses interested in pursuing a faculty role.
Uses of funds
Funds made available by grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under this part may be used—
to develop a new national demonstration initiative to align nursing education with the emerging challenges of healthcare delivery; and
for any 1 or more of the following innovations in educational programs:
To develop a clinical simulation laboratory in a hospital, health facility, or accredited school of nursing.
To purchase distance learning technologies.
To fund release time for qualified nurses enrolled in the graduate nursing program.
To provide for faculty salaries.
To collect and analyze data on educational outcomes.
Applications
Each partnership desiring to receive a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under this part shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by such information as the Secretary may require. Each application shall include assurances that—
the individuals enrolled in the program will be qualified nurses in pursuit of a master's or doctoral degree in nursing and have a contractual obligation with the hospital or health facility that is in partnership with the institution of higher education;
the hospital or health facility of employment would be the clinical site for the accredited school of nursing program;
individuals will also maintain their employment on a part-time basis to the hospital or health facility that allowed them to participate in the program, and will receive an income from the hospital or health facility, as a part-time employee, and release times or flexible schedules to accommodate the individuals' class schedules; and
upon completion of the program, an individual agrees to teach for 2 years in an accredited school of nursing for each year of support the individual received under this program.
Authorization of appropriations
There are authorized to be appropriated for this part not more than $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2008 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.
Definition
For purposes of this part, the term health facility means an Indian Health Service health service center, a Native Hawaiian health center, a hospital, a Federally qualified health center, a rural health clinic, a nursing home, a home health agency, a hospice program, a public health clinic, a State or local department of public health, a skilled nursing facility, or ambulatory surgical center.
.