[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3173 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3173

 To create a pilot program to increase the number of graduate educated 
  nurse faculty to meet the future need for qualified nurses, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 30, 2005

  Mrs. McCarthy (for herself, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. 
Boswell, Mr. McNulty, Ms. Herseth, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Owens, Mrs. Jones 
  of Ohio, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Mr. 
 Allen, Ms. Matsui, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Moore of Kansas, Mr. Leach, Mr. 
McGovern, Mr. Wexler, Mr. Moran of Virginia, and Mrs. Capps) introduced 
 the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education 
                           and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To create a pilot program to increase the number of graduate educated 
  nurse faculty to meet the future need for qualified nurses, 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 Faculty Higher Education 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) In their 2004 survey of 561 schools of nursing with 
        baccalaureate and graduate programs, the American Association 
        of College of Nursing found that U.S. nursing schools turned 
        away 32,797 qualified applicants. The National League for 
        Nursing estimates that in the 2003-2004 academic year, all 
        types of RN-preparation programs could not accommodate over 
        125,000 qualified applications. Insufficient faculty was the 
        top reason cited by nursing schools for not accepting all 
        qualified applicants.
            (2) The mean ages of doctorally prepared nurse faculty 
        holding the ranks of professor, associate professor, and 
        assistant professor are 56.8, 54.6 and 50.8 respectively and 
        the average age of doctorally prepared faculty is 54.2 years.
            (3) The average age at retirement of nurse faculty is 62.5 
        years and it is expected that 200 to 300 doctorally prepared 
        faculty will be eligible for retirement each year from 2005 
        through 2012 just as more than 1 million replacement nurses 
        will be needed.
            (4) The current faculty shortage will be greatly compounded 
        in the next few years by the retirement of many of the current 
        nurse faculty in the United States.
            (5) Nursing salaries for faculty are not competitive when 
        compared to similarly educated nurses in clinical or 
        administrative positions, as the average salary of a master's 
        prepared nurse faculty member in 2003 was $60,357 compared to 
        $80,697 for a master's prepared nurse practitioner working in 
        an emergency department.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.

    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 new part:

                 ``PART E--NURSE FACULTY PILOT PROJECT

``SEC. 771. PURPOSES.

    ``The purposes of this part are to create a pilot program--
            ``(1) 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
            ``(2) 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.

``SEC. 772. ASSISTANCE AUTHORIZED.

    ``(a) 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.
    ``(b) Duration; Evaluation and Dissemination.--
            ``(1) Duration.--Grants under this part shall be awarded 
        for a period of 3 to 5 years.
            ``(2) 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 section 771(2).
    ``(c) Considerations in Making Awards.--In awarding grants and 
entering into contracts and cooperative agreements under this section, 
the Secretary shall consider the following:
            ``(1) Geographic distribution.--Providing an equitable 
        geographic distribution of such grants.
            ``(2) Rural and urban areas.--Distributing such grants to 
        urban and rural areas.
            ``(3) 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.
            ``(4) Prior experience or exceptional programs.--
        Institutions of higher education with demonstrated prior 
        experience in, or exceptional programs for preparation of nurse 
        educators or nursing faculty (or both).
    ``(d) Uses of Funds.--Funds made available by grant, contract, or 
cooperative agreement under this part may be used--
            ``(1) to develop a new national demonstration initiative to 
        align nursing education with the emerging challenges of 
        healthcare delivery; and
            ``(2) for any one or more of the following innovations in 
        educational programs:
                    ``(A) to develop a clinical simulation laboratory 
                in a hospital, health facility, or accredited school of 
                nursing;
                    ``(B) to purchase distance learning technologies;
                    ``(C) to fund release time for qualified nurses 
                enrolled in the graduate nursing program;
                    ``(D) to provide for faculty salaries; and
                    ``(E) to collect and analyze data on educational 
                outcomes.

``SEC. 773. 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--
            ``(1) 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;
            ``(2) the hospital or health facility of employment would 
        be the clinical site for the accredited school of nursing 
        program;
            ``(3) 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 their 
        class schedule.
            ``(4) upon completion of the program, individuals agree to 
        teach for 2 years in an accredited school of nursing for each 
        year of support the individual received under this program; and

``SEC. 774. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``There are authorized to be appropriated for this part not more 
than $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2006 and such sums as may be necessary 
for each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.

``SEC. 775. 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.''.
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