[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 522 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 522

                   Recognizing National Nurses Week.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 12, 2010

  Mr. Burris (for himself, Ms. Snowe, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Merkley, Mr. 
Durbin, and Mr. Johanns) submitted the following resolution; which was 
                        considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
                   Recognizing National Nurses Week.

Whereas since 1990, National Nurses Week is celebrated annually from May 6, 
        which is known as National Recognition Day for Nurses, through May 12, 
        which is the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern 
        nursing;
Whereas National Nurses Week is a time of year to reflect on the important 
        contributions that nurses make to provide safe, high-quality health 
        care;
Whereas nurses are known to be patient advocates, acting fearlessly to protect 
        the lives of those under their care;
Whereas nurses represent the largest single component of the health care 
        profession with 3,100,000 jobs;
Whereas nurses are experienced researchers, and their work encompasses a wide 
        scope of scientific inquiry, including clinical research, health systems 
        and outcomes research, and nursing education research;
Whereas nurses are well positioned to provide leadership to eliminate health 
        care disparities that exist in the United States;
Whereas nurses help inform and educate the public to improve the practice of all 
        nurses and, more importantly, the health and safety of the patients they 
        care for;
Whereas survey data shows that enrollments in entry-level baccalaureate programs 
        in nursing rose by 3.6 percent in 2009, and though this marks the ninth 
        consecutive year of enrollment growth, the annual increase in student 
        capacity in 4-year nursing programs has declined sharply since 2003 when 
        enrollment was up by 16.6 percent;
Whereas nursing programs in the United States were forced to reject almost 
        119,000 qualified applicants according to the most recent survey of all 
        prelicensure nursing programs;
Whereas according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, employment of 
        registered nurses is expected to grow by 22 percent from 2008 to 2018, 
        which is a much faster rate of growth than the average rate of growth 
        for all occupations;
Whereas according to survey data, enrollment in doctoral nursing programs 
        increased by more than 20 percent this year, signaling strong interest 
        among students in careers as nursing scientists, faculty, primary care 
        providers, and specialists;
Whereas expanding capacity in baccalaureate and graduate programs is critical to 
        sustaining a healthy nursing workforce and providing patients with the 
        best care possible;
Whereas the nationwide nursing shortage has caused dedicated nurses to work 
        longer hours and care for more acutely ill patients;
Whereas nurse educators work on average more than 57 hours per week in order to 
        ensure that each and every new registered nurse receives an excellent 
        education, advancing excellence among the next generation of nurses;
Whereas nurses inform legislators on the education, retention, recruitment, and 
        practice of all nurses and, more importantly, the health and safety of 
        the patients they care for; and
Whereas increased Federal and State support is needed to enhance existing 
        programs and create new programs to educate nursing students at all 
        levels, to increase the number of faculty members to educate nursing 
        students, to create clinical sites and have appropriately prepared 
        nurses teach and train at those sites, to create educational 
        opportunities to retain nurses in the profession, and to educate and 
        train more nurse research scientists who can discover new nursing: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes National Nurses Week;
            (2) supports the goals and ideals of National Nurses Week;
            (3) acknowledges the importance of quality higher education 
        in nursing, including baccalaureate and graduate programs, to 
        meet the needs of one of the fastest growing labor fields in 
        the Nation; and
            (4) supports the nurse capacity initiatives for 
        institutions of higher education included in the Higher 
        Education Opportunity Act.
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