[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 125 (Friday, September 29, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S10732]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. CLINTON:
  S. 4029. A bill to increase the number of well-educated nurses, and 
for other purposes; to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions.
  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Nursing 
Education and Quality of Health Care Act of 2006. This legislation is 
essential for addressing our current and future nursing shortages.
  I have been hearing from nurses and health care providers from every 
part of New York that we are facing an impending nursing crisis and 
their stories echo what is heard from nurses across the Nation.
  By 2014, the Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts that there will be 
over 1 million job openings for registered nurses. In New York alone, 
we will need to produce over 80,000 new RNs to meet these projections. 
One of our greatest needs will be in rural areas where the pool of 
nurses is small and the loss of just one nurse from the workforce can 
have a profound impact on the health of the community.
  I can proudly say we have made good progress in New York on one 
front. In 2006, 30 percent more registered nurses graduated than in 
2004. I believe that we can credit this increase to the Nurse 
Reinvestment Act that was signed into law in 2002. Through this 
bipartisan legislation, we were able to make great strides in 
strengthening our nation's nursing workforce.
  The Nurse Reinvestment Act includes a number of critical initiatives 
including one from the bipartisan bill I introduced with Senator Gordon 
Smith to retain nurses who are already in the profession. The Clinton-
Smith provision provides grants to health care organizations that 
develop and implement models based on magnet hospitals. Hospitals that 
have achieved magnet status report lower mortality rates, higher 
patient satisfaction, greater cost-efficiency, and patients 
experiencing shorter stays in hospitals and intensive care units.
  But I am here today because nurses are still facing an urgent 
situation that requires action. Even though we are making strides to 
graduate more nurses, in 2005 over 37,000 qualified applicants were 
turned away from nursing schools in United States. In New York, it is 
estimated that nearly 3,000 nursing school applicants were denied 
entry. Put simply, we don't have the capacity in our nursing schools to 
train qualified potential students.
  Not only are we facing a nursing shortage, we are setting ourselves 
up for a potential nursing crisis if we don't address the impending 
faculty shortage. This situation will become dire if we lose potential 
nurses due to the retirement of nurse faculty as that the aging 
population increases.
  We need to pave the way and recruit more people into the nursing 
profession. This shortage crisis impacts not only the nurses, but also 
patients since we know that the quality of care increases when nurses 
are not working too many hours, are not treating too many patients, and 
are satisfied with their jobs.
  Today I am here to support recruitment, education, and training to 
help alleviate this crisis in New York and in the rest of the nation 
through introduction of the Nursing Education and Quality of Health 
Care Act of 2006. This act will establish distance learning 
opportunities for people in rural communities who wish to pursue the 
nursing profession without leaving their home town. This legislation 
will also provide tuition assistance and loan forgiveness for those who 
choose to practice in rural communities.
  To increase the number of nurses in the workforce we need to expand 
the nursing faculty so that thousands of qualified people are not 
turned away from the profession. This legislation will fund programs 
that will enhance recruitment, scholarships, and educational 
preparation and encourage more nurses to become faculty members by 
establishing online courses and accelerated degree programs.
  We need for nurses to participate and collaborate in patient-safety 
initiatives for the well-being of patients. The Nursing Education and 
Quality of Health Care Act will take the lead on this issue by 
supporting projects that integrate patient safety practices into 
nursing education programs and enhance the leadership of nurses in 
improving patients' outcomes within their health care settings.
  We will all rely on nurses sometime in our life, and we need to make 
sure that this essential member of the health care team will always be 
present at our bedsides.
  I am pleased to be here encouraging Nurses, who are so critical to 
the successful operation of our hospitals and the quality of care 
patients receive. We should be doing everything we can to address the 
nursing shortage and to make nursing an attractive and rewarding 
profession.
  The Nursing Education and Quality of Health Care Act of 2006 is 
supported by: American Association of Colleges of Nursing; American 
Nursing Association; American Organization of Nurse Executives; 
Brooklyn Nursing Partnership; New York State Area Health Education 
Center System
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