WHITE PLAINS, NY – With an aging population that increasingly relies on health care services, the United States faces a critical need for more qualified and well-trained nurses.  Congress has taken some steps to meet this need by creating programs to recruit new nurses, but more must be done.  Today, Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-Westchester/Rockland) announced that she will soon introduce legislation to improve training of new nurses.  She also announced that she has obtained over $600,000 this year in federal funds for local nursing programs.

In 2002, the Nurse Reinvestment Act was signed into law.  This program, which aims to increase enrollment at nursing schools and programs across the country, has increased applications to nursing schools by 60% in just two years.  However, nursing programs are now finding it difficult to enroll all qualified applicants due to a lack of instructors.  According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), in 2004 alone, U.S. nursing schools turned away 26,340 qualified applicants to entry-level baccalaureate nursing programs due to insufficient number of faculty, clinical sites, classroom space, and budget constraints.

Congresswoman Lowey is introducing legislation to fill this gap.  Her bill, the Nurse Education, Expansion, and Development (NEED) Act, would authorize grants to nursing schools to improve their ability to educate nursing students.  Under the bill, graduate, baccalaureate, and associate degree nursing programs would be eligible to receive grant funding to hire and retain new faculty, purchase educational equipment, enhance clinical laboratories, and repair and expand infrastructure -- the very problems preventing schools from enrolling more students.  The bill would also require a report on ways to increase participation in the nurse faculty profession. 

“We are currently facing a nursing crisis – and we shouldn’t be.  We have a severe need for more nurses in our hospitals and health care facilities, yet we have many qualified individuals who wish to become nurses.  Unfortunately, we simply lack the ability to train as many as we need,” said Lowey.  “We can fix this.  My legislation will provide resources to nursing schools so they can increase enrollment.  This simple solution will meet the nursing shortage head-on and ensure that patients don’t suffer for lack of qualified nursing staff.”

Lowey is also working locally to support nursing programs.  At the press conference, Lowey announced the following federal appropriations:

• $150,000 for Mercy College’s nursing program;
• $350,000 for White Plains Hospital Center to develop a nursing program in conjunction with White Plains City School District.  The program will provide employment opportunities, work-readiness workshops, and volunteer and intern programs; and
• $104,000 for Pace University’s Nursing Middle School Students Scholars program.

“While we move toward a legislative solution to our nursing shortage, I will continue to work with our local schools to make sure that they have the resources they need to find and train nurses,” Lowey said.  “Working with local officials and school administrators, I was able to obtain funding for these important nursing programs and I look forward to working with them again to improve health care.”