1.This Act may be cited as
the Nursing Education Opportunities
Act
.
2.Congress finds the following:
(1)The American
Hospital Association reported in July 2007 that United States hospitals need
approximately 116,000 registered nurses to fill vacant positions
nationwide.
(2)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.
(3)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.
(4)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.
(5)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.
(6)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.
(7)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.
(8)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.
3.Nursing student
loan programTitle VIII of the
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296 et seq.) is amended—
(1)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
(2)in section
836—
(A)in subsection
(a)—
(i)by
striking $2,500
and inserting $4,400
;
(ii)by
striking $4,000
and inserting $7,000
; and
(iii)by striking
$13,000
and inserting $22,900
; and
(B)in subsection
(b)—
(i)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
(ii)in
paragraph (2), by inserting (including a student in an accelerated
nursing degree program who is pursuing a second baccalaureate degree)
after equivalent degree
.
4.Accelerated
nursing degree programsSection 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
.
5.Advanced
education nursing grantsSection 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.
.
6.Grant program
for doctoral nursing programsPart 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.Grant program
for doctoral nursing programs
(a)The Secretary shall award grants to eligible entities to
enable the eligible entities to establish doctoral nursing degree
programs.
(b)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.
(c)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.
(d)Selection of
grant recipientsNot 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:
(1)Doctoral
nursing program distributionProviding priority to eligible
entities located in States in which there are no doctoral nursing degree
programs.
(2)Providing an equitable geographic distribution of
such grants.
(3)Distributing such grants to rural and urban areas.
(4)Prior
experience or exceptional programsWhether the eligible entity
has demonstrated—
(A)prior experience
in, or exceptional programs for, the preparation of baccalaureate prepared
nurses or master's prepared nurses; and
(B)an interest in
establishing a doctoral nursing degree program.
(e)Each grant awarded under this section shall be equal to
not more than $2,000,000.
(f)A grant awarded under this section shall be for a period
of not more than 5 years.
(g)An eligible entity that receives a grant under this section
shall use the grant funds to establish a doctoral nursing degree program,
including—
(1)hiring
administrators, faculty, and staff;
(2)retaining current
faculty;
(3)developing
doctoral curriculum;
(4)repairing and
expanding infrastructures;
(5)purchasing
educational equipment;
(6)developing and
enhancing clinical laboratories;
(7)recruiting
students;
(8)establishing
technology infrastructures; and
(9)other investments
determined necessary by the eligible entity for the development of a doctoral
nursing degree program.
(h)Authorization
of appropriationsThere 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.
.
7.Doctoral nursing
consortia pilot projectPart 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:
833.Doctoral
nursing consortia pilot project
(a)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.
(b)The Secretary shall award grants to partnerships of
eligible entities to enable the partnerships to establish doctoral nursing
consortia.
(c)In
this section:
(1)Doctoral
nursing consortiumThe term doctoral nursing
consortium means a partnership that includes 2 or more of—
(A)eligible entities
within the same State;
(B)eligible entities
within different States; or
(C)eligible entities
establishing a doctoral nursing program.
(2)The term eligible entity has the meaning
given the term in section 832(b).
(d)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.
(e)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.
(f)Consideration
in making awardsIn awarding grants under this section, the
Secretary shall consider the following:
(1)Prior
experience or exceptional programsEligible entities that have
demonstrated prior experience in, or exceptional programs for, the preparation
of—
(A)doctorally
prepared nursing faculty and nursing researchers; and
(B)baccalaureate
prepared nurses or master's prepared nurses.
(2)Providing an equitable geographic distribution of
such grants.
(3)Distributing such grants to rural and urban areas.
(4)Awarding grants to eligible entities that have not
previously received a grant under this section.
(g)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.
(h)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—
(1)establishing
technology infrastructures;
(2)developing shared
doctoral curriculum;
(3)hiring faculty
and staff;
(4)retaining current
faculty;
(5)providing travel
stipends for nursing faculty who agree to teach nursing courses at another
eligible entity within the doctoral nursing consortium;
(6)providing
scholarships for post-doctoral fellows who agree to teach a nursing course
within the nursing doctoral consortium;
(7)providing
collaborative networks for nursing research; and
(8)other investments
determined necessary by the eligible entities for use within the doctoral
nursing consortium.
(i)The pilot project under this section shall be for a
period of not more than 5 years.
(j)Authorization
of appropriationsThere 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.
.
8.Nurse faculty
pilot projectTitle VII of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1133 et seq.) is amended
by adding at the end the following:
FNurse Faculty
Pilot Project
781.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.
782.
(a)Competitive
grants authorizedThe
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)Grants
under this part shall be awarded for a period of 3 to 5 years.
(2)Mandatory
evaluation and disseminationGrants 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).
(c)Considerations
in Making AwardsIn awarding
grants and entering into contracts and cooperative agreements under this
section, the Secretary shall consider the following:
(1)Providing an equitable geographic distribution of
such grants.
(2)Distributing such grants to urban and rural areas.
(3)Range and type
of institutionEnsuring 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 programsInstitutions of higher education with
demonstrated prior experience in providing advanced nursing education programs
to prepare nurses interested in pursuing a faculty role.
(d)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 1 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.
(E)To collect and
analyze data on educational outcomes.
783.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 the individuals' class schedules; and
(4)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.
784.Authorization
of appropriationsThere 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.
785.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.
.