FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE/April 24, 1997 CONTACT: Connie Helmlinger [202/651-7024]; Sara Foer [202/651-7023] MEDIA ADVISORYANA Protests Low Funding of Nurse Education, Asks House Subcommittee to Restore to 1997 LevelWashington, D.C.-- Continuing its protest of the Administration's decimation of funding for nurse education programs in its FY 1998 budget proposal, the American Nurses Association (ANA) called for proposed funding to be increased to the FY 1997 level in testimony yesterday before a subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations. "Although the nursing community at large is appalled and outraged with the Administration's proposal, we believe that our shared mutual goal of ensuring the nation an adequate supply of well-educated nurses will reaffirm the need for continued funding of these programs," stated Elaine Williams, NP, RN, who presented testimony on behalf of the ANA, joined by the Emergency Nurses Association. Williams is a nurse associate in the Department of General Surgery at Cook County Hospital in Chicago and served as Illinois Nurses Association president from 1991 to 1995. In addressing the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies, the ANA emphasized that its concerns stem from President Clinton's proposal to deeply slash federal support for the Nurse Education Act at a time when advanced practice nurses are at the forefront of the delivery of primary care in underserved areas. Funding for nurse education programs for FY '98 is proposed at $7.7 million--down from $65.3 million for FY '97. "Federal support for nursing education in Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act [the Nurse Education Act] is unduplicated and essential to achieve future goals for the public's health," Williams asserted. "More than 100,000 advanced practice nurses ... are providing primary care in the place of physicians or are providing an expanded type of primary care." The Title VIII monies support graduate-level nursing programs, which enroll approximately 30,000 students annually and prepare registered nurses to assume advanced practice roles. Advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) is an umbrella term given to a registered nurse (RN) who has met advanced educational and clinical practice requirements beyond the 2-4 years of basic nursing education required for all RNs. The four principal types of APRNs are nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and certified nurse-midwives. Title VIII monies also fund nurse-managed clinics affiliated with university schools of nursing. Last year, these clinics, staffed by nursing students and faculty, provided more than 32,000 primary care visits to a range of underserved populations, such as poor children and elderly in many inner cities. During its testimony, the ANA expressed support for the Administration's proposed 2.6% increase above FY '97 funding--from $59.7 million to $61 million--for the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) and noted it would welcome the NINR professional judgment recommendation of a 9% increase. "Nursing research is an integral part of the effectiveness of nursing care," Williams stated. "The NINR provides the knowledge base for the practice of 2.6 million registered nurses. Advances in nursing care arising from nursing and other biomedical research improves the quality of patient care and has shown excellent progress in reducing health care costs and health care demands." As an advocate for the economic and general welfare of registered nurses, the ANA also called on the subcommittee for appropriate funding for the Department of Labor and related agencies that serve to ensure a safe and fair workplace. Specifically, the association recommended that the National Labor Relations Board be funded at $186 million and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration be funded at $348 million in FY '98. The American Nurses Association is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.6 million Registered Nurses through its 53 constituent associations. ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the work place, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.
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