FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE/November 20, 1997 CONTACT: Sara Foer [202/651-7023];
MEDIA ADVISORYANA Praises HHS Appropriation BillNurse Education Funding Gets a BoostWashington, D.C. -- The American Nurses Association (ANA) today praised Congress for presenting a bill to President Clinton that provides increased Fiscal Year 1998 (FY '98) funding for the Nurse Education Act (NEA) programs and the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR). The Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations bill for 1998 (HR 2264) was signed into law by President Clinton (PL 105-78) on November 13 and includes a total of $293.3 million in funding for health professions education, $1 million more than in FY '97. Specifically, $65.6 million will be allocated to NEA programs and the NINR will receive $63.5 million. ANA is pleased that funding for nursing education will be increased by $300,000 over last year's funding level. The Appropriations measure passed the House on November 7 by a vote of 352 to 65 and the Senate on November 8 with a vote of 91 to 4. In the proposed FY '98 budget, funding for NEA had been slated for only $7.7 million. Given an uphill battle to replenish NEA funding, ANA characterized the funding as a huge victory for nursing and a testament to grassroots lobbying efforts. Throughout 1997, ANA, its state nurses associations (SNAs) and their members actively lobbied Congress in support of NEA funding through the Nurses Strategic Action Team, (N-STAT), a grass-roots network of more than 50,000 nurses. N-STAT is coordinated by ANA in conjunction with the SNAs to make nurses' voices heard on Capitol Hill. N-STAT's Rapid Response Team advances nursing's legislative agenda by communicating with members of Congress. ANA also attributes this victory to its collaboration with nursing's specialty organizations. These combined efforts came to fruition with the bipartisan passage of the FY '98 Labor HHS Appropriations bill. In particular, Congressman Henry Bonilla (R-TX-23) was instrumental in having the funding level replenished. "The American Nurses Association is extremely pleased by the strong support of Congress for this important measure," said ANA President Beverly L. Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN. "Without this type of stable funding to support graduate-level education for nurses, we would enter the 21st century ill-prepared to provide adequate health care to aging baby boomers and their grandchildren. "Thousands of today's registered nurses, including many single mothers and those who came from low-income families, rely upon NEA funds in order to become professional nurses," explained Malone. The NEA, funded under Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act, provides the majority of federal funding for nurse education, the largest of the health professions. These funds support graduate-level programs primarily, which enroll approximately 30,000 students annually. These programs 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 practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, certified registered nurse anesthetist, and certified nurse-midwife. In addition, monies in Title VIII 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. 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 improve the quality of patient care and have shown excellent progress in reducing health care costs and health care demands. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, demand for health care professionals is expected to grow by 47 percent by the year 2005, with the need for APRNs among the greatest. APRNs, such as nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists, are increasingly in demand to meet the broad health care needs of Medicare beneficiaries. In fact, with the enactment of the Balanced Budget Act in August 1997, effective on January 1, 1998, direct Medicare reimbursement will be provided to nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists in all geographic areas, a provision that ANA has been actively lobbying for the past eight years. "The American Nurses Association commends Congress and the administration for passing these two bills and showing a commitment to and and an understanding of the value of advanced practice registered nurses in all health care settings, which, in turn, leads to greater health care access for consumers," said Malone. ###
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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