1.This Act may be cited as the
Nurse Faculty Education Act of
2005
.
2.Congress makes the following
findings:
(1)The Nurse Reinvestment Act (Public Law
107-205) has helped to support students preparing to be nurse educators. Yet,
nursing schools nationwide are forced to deny admission to individuals due to
lack of qualified nurse faculty.
(2)According to the February 2004 Monthly
Labor Review of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 1,000,000 new and
replacement nurses will be needed by 2012.
(3)According to the American Association of
Colleges of Nursing, in the 2004-2005 academic year, 29,425 individuals, or 35
percent of the qualified applicants were not accepted into nursing
baccalaureate programs. 2,748 potential nursing master’s students and over 200
nurses qualified for admission to doctoral programs were not accepted.
Estimates from the National League of Nursing indicate that over 123,000
qualified applications could not be accommodated in associate degree, diploma,
and baccalaureate registered nurse educational programs in 2004.
(4)Seventy-six percent of schools report
insufficient faculty as the primary reason for not accepting qualified
applicants. The primary reasons for lack of faculty are lack of funds to hire
new faculty, inability to identify, recruit and hire faculty in the current
competitive job market, and lack of nursing faculty available in different
geographic areas.
(5)Despite the fact that 75 percent of
graduates of doctoral nursing program enter education roles (versus about 5
percent of graduates of nursing master’s programs), the 93 doctoral programs
nationwide produce only 400 graduates. This annual graduation rate is
insufficient to meet current needs for nurse faculty. In keeping with other
professional academic disciplines, nurse faculty at colleges and universities
are typically doctorally-prepared.
(6)With the average age of nurse faculty at
retirement at 62.5 years of age and the average age of doctorally-prepared
faculty currently at 53.5 years, the health care system faces unprecedented
workforce and health access challenges with current and future shortages of
deans, nurse educators, and nurses.
3.Amendment to the
Public Health Service ActPart
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:
832.
(a)The Secretary, acting through the Health
Resources and Services Administration, shall establish a Nurse Faculty
Education Program to ensure an adequate supply of nurse faculty through the
awarding of grants to eligible entities to—
(1)provide support for the hiring of new
faculty, the retaining of existing faculty, and the purchase of educational
resources;
(2)provide for increasing enrollment and
graduation rates for students from doctoral programs; and
(3)assist graduates from the entity in serving
as nurse faculty in schools of nursing;
(b)To be eligible to receive a grant under
subsection (a), an entity shall—
(1)be a school of nursing that offers a
doctoral degree in nursing in a State or territory;
(2)submit to the Secretary an application at
such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may
require;
(3)develop and implement a plan in accordance
with subsection (c);
(4)agree to submit an annual report to the
Secretary that includes updated information on the doctoral program involved,
including information with respect to—
(A)student enrollment;
(B)student retention;
(C)graduation rates;
(D)the number of graduates employed part-time
or full-time in a nursing faculty position; and
(E)retention in nursing faculty positions
within 1 year and 2 years of employment;
(5)agree to permit the Secretary to make
on-site inspections, and to comply with the requests of the Secretary for
information, to determine the extent to which the school is complying with the
requirements of this section; and
(6)meet such other requirements as determined
appropriate by the Secretary.
(c)Not later than 1 year
after the receipt of a grant under this section, an entity shall develop and
implement a plan for using amounts received under this grant in a manner that
establishes not less than 2 of the following:
(1)Partnering opportunities with practice and
academic institutions to facilitate doctoral education and research experiences
that are mutually beneficial.
(2)Partnering opportunities with educational
institutions to facilitate the hiring of graduates from the entity into nurse
faculty, prior to, and upon completion of the program.
(3)Partnering opportunities with nursing
schools to place students into internship programs which provide hands-on
opportunity to learn about the nurse faculty role.
(4)Cooperative education programs among
schools of nursing to share use of technological resources and distance
learning technologies that serve rural students and underserved areas.
(5)Opportunities for minority and diverse
student populations (including aging nurses in clinical roles) interested in
pursuing doctoral education.
(6)Pre-entry preparation opportunities
including programs that assist returning students in standardized test
preparation, use of information technology, and the statistical tools necessary
for program enrollment.
(7)A nurse faculty mentoring program.
(8)A Registered Nurse baccalaureate to Ph. D.
program to expedite the completion of a doctoral degree and entry to nurse
faculty role.
(9)Career path opportunities for 2nd degree
students to become nurse faculty.
(10)Marketing outreach activities to attract
students committed to becoming nurse faculty.
(d)In awarding grants under this section, the
Secretary shall give priority to entities from States and territories that have
a lower number of employed nurses per 100,000 population.
(e)Number and
amount of grantsGrants under
this section shall be awarded as follows:
(1)In fiscal year 2006, the Secretary shall
award 10 grants of $100,000 each.
(2)In fiscal year 2007, the Secretary shall
award an additional 10 grants of $100,000 each and provide continued funding
for the existing grantees under paragraph (1) in the amount of $100,000
each.
(3)In fiscal year 2008, the Secretary shall
award an additional 10 grants of $100,000 each and provide continued funding
for the existing grantees under paragraphs (1) and (2) in the amount of
$100,000 each.
(4)In fiscal year 2009, the Secretary shall
provide continued funding for each of the existing grantees under paragraphs
(1) through (3) in the amount of $100,000 each.
(5)In fiscal year 2010, the Secretary shall
provide continued funding for each of the existing grantees under paragraphs
(1) through (3) in the amount of $100,000 each.
(f)
(1)Payments to an entity under a grant under
this section shall be for a period of not to exceed 5 years.
(2)An entity that fails to
use amounts received under a grant under this section as provided for in
subsection (c) shall, at the discretion of the Secretary, be required to remit
to the Federal Government not less than 80 percent of the amounts received
under the grant.
(g)
(1)The Secretary shall conduct an evaluation
of the results of the activities carried out under grants under this
section.
(2)Not later than 3 years after the date of
the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit to Congress an
interim report on the results of the evaluation conducted under paragraph (1).
Not later than 6 months after the end of the program under this section, the
Secretary shall submit to Congress a final report on the results of such
evaluation.
(h)
(1)Not later than 3
years after the date of the enactment of this section, the Comptroller General
of the United States shall conduct a study and submit a report to Congress
concerning activities to increase participation in the nurse educator program
under the section.
(2)The report under paragraph (1) shall
include the following:
(A)An examination of the capacity of nursing
schools to meet workforce needs on a nationwide basis.
(B)An analysis and discussion of
sustainability options for continuing programs beyond the initial funding
period.
(C)An examination and understanding of the
doctoral degree programs that are successful in placing graduates as faculty in
schools of nursing.
(D)An analysis of program design under this
section and the impact of such design on nurse faculty retention and workforce
shortages.
(E)An analysis of compensation disparities
between nursing clinical practitioners and nurse faculty and between higher
education nurse faculty and higher education faculty overall.
(F)Recommendations to enhance faculty
retention and the nursing workforce.
(i)Authorization
of appropriations
(1)For the costs of
carrying out this section (except the costs described in paragraph (2), there
are authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, $2,000,000
for fiscal year 2007, and $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through
2010.
(2)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 2006
through
2010.
.