WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today Congresswoman Lois Capps (D-CA), Democratic Co-Chair of the Congressional Nursing Caucus, introduced the Troops To Nurse Teachers Act (TNT), H.R. 5878.  This legislation is modeled after the 1994 Department of Defense (DOD) program called “Troops to Teachers.”  “Troops to Nurse Teachers” offers an innovative solution that will help place more qualified nurses in faculty positions which will, in turn, increase the pool of trained nurses available to serve in both civilian and military positions.

“Our country is facing a crisis due to the shortage of nurses, and the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are placing an unprecedented strain on our military’s health care delivery system and jeopardizing its ability to provide quality health care for our military service members,” said Capps. “Our legislation meets this challenge by encouraging active duty nurses and nurses retiring from the military to become nurse educators.  This would provide additional nurse faculty and ultimately produce more qualified nurses for both civilian and military service.  This innovative approach empowers experienced military nurses to share their considerable skills as health care professionals while training the next generation of nurses.”

According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, U.S. nursing schools turned away 42,866 qualified applicants in 2006. Almost three quarters of the nursing schools pointed to faculty shortages as a primary reason for not accepting all qualified applicants into nursing programs. Since military nurses are educated in civilian nursing schools, the nurse faculty shortage and resulting difficulty for qualified applicants to attend nursing school are major reasons why military nurse recruitment has stalled. Neither the Army nor the Air Force has met its active service nurse recruitment goals since the 1990s. In 2006, the Air Force, Army, and Navy experienced overall nurse vacancy rates of 15 percent, 8 percent, and 10 percent, respectively.

The Troops to Nurse Teachers (TNT) bill would increase the number of nurse faculty members so schools of nursing may expand enrollments and alleviate the ongoing nursing shortage in the military and civilian sectors. Specifically, the legislation would encourage active duty nurses and nurses retiring from the military to become nurse educators.

The TNT program is supported by the Nurse Corps at the Air Force, Army, and Navy and the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The TNT program has also been endorsed by a number of nationally recognized nursing and health care organizations including: the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses; American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing; American Association of Colleges of Nursing; American Association of Nurse Anesthetists; American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, Inc.; American College of Nurse Practitioners; American Health Care Association; American Nurses Association; American Organization of Nurse Executives; American Radiological Nurses Association; American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses; Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses; Association of Women's Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses; Emergency Nurses Association; National Black Nurses Association; National Conference of Gerontological Nurse Practitioners; National Council of State Boards of Nursing; National Gerontological Nursing Association; National League for Nursing; National Nursing Centers Consortium; National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties; Oncology Nursing Society; and the Society of Urologic Nurses & Associates.

Congresswoman Capps (D-CA) is a registered nurse and member of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health.

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Pictured above: (center) Congresswoman Capps meets with Central Coast firefighters to discuss emergency preparedness.