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
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.