[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3589 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3589

To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to 
 eligible entities to implement and evaluate demonstrations of models 
and best practices in nursing care and to develop innovative strategies 
                 for retention of professional nurses.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 20, 2001

  Mr. Maloney of Connecticut introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to 
 eligible entities to implement and evaluate demonstrations of models 
and best practices in nursing care and to develop innovative strategies 
                 for retention of professional nurses.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. DEVELOPING BEST PRACTICES AND RETENTION STRATEGIES IN 
              NURSING STAFF MANAGEMENT.

    Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296 et seq.) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:

``PART H--DEVELOPING BEST PRACTICES AND RETENTION STRATEGIES IN NURSING 
                            STAFF MANAGEMENT

``SEC. 851. GRANTS.

    ``(a) Program Authorized.--The Secretary shall award grants to 
eligible entities to carry out and evaluate demonstrations of models 
and best practices in nursing care and to develop innovative strategies 
or approaches for retention of professional nurses.
    ``(b) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means--
                    ``(A) a partnership or coalition containing a 
                health care facility and a baccalaureate, associate 
                degree, or diploma school of nursing or another 
                organization with expertise in outcome and cost-
                effectiveness measurement; or
                    ``(B) a health care facility demonstrating 
                proficiency (as evidenced by accreditation by an 
                accepted organization) in outcomes and cost-
                effectiveness measurement.
            ``(2) Health care facility.--The term `health care 
        facility' means a hospital, skilled nursing facility, long-term 
        care facility, home health care agency, federally qualified 
        health center, nurse-managed health center, rural health 
        clinic, public health clinic, or any other entity as designated 
        by the Secretary.
            ``(3) Nurse leadership.--The term `nurse leadership' 
        includes nurse executives, nurse administrators, and nurse 
        managers.
            ``(4) Professional nurse.--The term `professional nurse' 
        means a registered nurse who holds a valid and unrestricted 
        license to practice nursing in a State.
    ``(c) Distribution of Grants.--Grants awarded under this section 
shall be distributed among eligible entities representing a variety of 
geographic regions and a range of different types and sizes of health 
care facilities.
    ``(d) Duration of Grants.--Grants awarded under this section shall 
be awarded for a period not greater than 2 years (and may be renewable 
only once).
    ``(e) Allocation.--The Secretary shall determine the amount of a 
grant awarded under this section for the nursing services of a health 
care facility based on the number of staffed beds of the facility as 
follows, and, if the Secretary deems appropriate, these amounts may be 
adjusted:
            ``(1) A maximum of $200,000 for a facility with fewer than 
        100 staffed beds.
            ``(2) A maximum of $400,000 for a facility with fewer than 
        400 staffed beds.
            ``(3) A maximum of $600,000 for a facility with 400 or more 
        staffed beds.
    ``(f) Priority Criteria.--In awarding grants under this section, 
the Secretary shall give priority to--
            ``(1) health care facilities that have not previously 
        received grant funds under this section; or
            ``(2) in the case of a grant renewal, grant recipients who 
        have demonstrated outcome improvements or have been designated 
        as a magnet hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing 
        Center.
    ``(g) Use of Funds.--An eligible entity that receives a grant under 
subsection (a) shall use such grant funds to do 1 or more of the 
following:
            ``(1) Improve the quality of the health care facility work 
        environment, including improving communication and 
        collaboration among health care professionals.
            ``(2) Initiate or maintain aggressive nurse retention 
        programs, including other initiatives as deemed appropriate by 
        the nurse retention committee at the health care facility.
            ``(3) Reduce workplace injuries.
            ``(4) Reduce rates of nursing sensitive patient outcomes.
            ``(5) Provide high-quality evaluations of the cost-
        effectiveness and patient outcomes of best practices, to assist 
        health care facility decisionmakers in determining appropriate 
        nurse retention strategies.
            ``(6) Promote continuing nursing education and career 
        development.
    ``(h) Application.--
            ``(1) In general.--An eligible entity desiring a grant 
        under subsection (a) shall submit an application to the 
        Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such 
        information as the Secretary may reasonably require.
            ``(2) Contents.--An application submitted under paragraph 
        (1) shall include a description of--
                    ``(A) the project or projects proposed to be 
                carried out with grant funds;
                    ``(B) the means by which to evaluate the project 
                with respect to its cost-effectiveness and outcomes as 
                they relate to staff turnover, workplace injuries, and 
                patient care outcomes that are sensitive to nursing 
                care;
                    ``(C) the system of patient outcomes measure, which 
                shall be described by the nurse leadership and 
                professional nurses of the health care facility, shall 
                be sensitive to nursing care, shall evaluate the 
                specific needs of the patients served by the health 
                care facility and the educational needs of the nursing 
                staff at such facility to meet the needs of the 
                patients, and shall be allocated by the health care 
                facility sufficient funds to carry out the system; and
                    ``(D) the health care facility's organizational and 
                clinical decisionmaking processes that incorporate the 
                input of the nursing staff, including the development 
                of a nurse retention committee, the inclusion of nurse 
                executive participation in senior level management of 
                the health care facility, and a nurse residency 
                training program for new graduate nurses entering the 
                workforce on a full-time basis, or nurses returning to 
                work at a health care facility on a full-time basis 
                after an absence of not less than 3 years without 
                working in the nursing field.
    ``(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $10,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2002 through 2007.''.
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