[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 103 (Monday, July 23, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1397]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        NURSING SHORTAGE RESPONSE ACT STATEMENT OF INTRODUCTION

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                          HON. WALTER B. JONES

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 23, 2001

  Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce 
the Nursing Shortage Response Act to help address the critical shortage 
of registered nurses (RNs) in our nation's hospitals.
  With the number of students going into the nursing profession on the 
decline and the bulk of nurses set to retire as the baby boom 
generation hits Medicare age, nursing staffing shortages are quickly 
becoming a real healthcare crisis. At the same time, mandatory overtime 
and lack of adequate staffing in hospitals is driving many existing 
nurses from the nursing profession into other jobs or retirement. 
Because of this shortage, existing nurses are being over-worked and the 
quality of care many patients receive is being called into question.
  The Nursing Shortage Response Act would help alleviate the current 
staffing problems hospitals are experiencing by amending the Public 
Health Service Act to give the National Health Service Corp (NHSC) the 
authority to consider tertiary care or hospital based nurses. The NHSC 
would establish criteria for including these nurses in determining the 
number of health professionals in the ratio for designating a health 
professional shortage area (HPSA).
  Currently, the NHSC does not take into account the ratio of hospital 
nurses per patient in designating a HPSA. This designation process is 
based only on the number of primary care doctors per patient.
  I believe this is an important first step towards addressing the 
nursing staffing shortage. By providing the NHSC the authority to 
consider the number of tertiary care nurses in designating a HPSA, 
nurses placed in a medically under-served area would be eligible to 
receive scholarships and/or have their student loans repaid under the 
NHSC Scholarship and Loan Repayment programs. We must revitalize the 
interest in the nursing profession for today's students and make the 
choice to enter the profession a more attractive, achievable option.
  At the same time, this bill does not harm the status quo. Language in 
the Nursing Shortage Response Act prevents the stripping of current 
HPSA designations by the inclusion of tertiary care nurses in the 
designation process. Additionally, the 10% set aside for advanced 
practice nurses under the NHSC would not be implicated as this 
legislation directs that funds are to come from the $87.9 million 
budget of the NHSC.
  Please join me in supporting this legislation as a good first step 
towards addressing the nursing staffing shortages around the country.

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