[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 12, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S3647]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        SENATE RESOLUTION 522--RECOGNIZING NATIONAL NURSES WEEK

  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:

                              S. Res. 522

       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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