FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 11, 2000

CONTACT:
Joan Meehan-Hurwitz, 202-651-7020
Hope Hall, , 202-651-7027
rn=realnews@ana.org
www.nursingworld.org/rnrealnews

Washington, D.C. - The American Nurses Association (ANA) praised President Clinton for his commitment to quality health care after reviewing the proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2001 budget. As mentioned in his State of the Union address (See ANA's 1/28/00 Press Release), Clinton's budget includes proposals that support a strong patients' bill of rights, provide tax credits for those with long-term health care needs, and strengthen the Medicare program.

The $1.8 trillion budget aims to continue to trim down the debt while investing in health and education. It provides a framework to eliminate the debt by 2013 and strengthens the solvency of Social Security and Medicare. The budget includes a $28 billion, 10-year investment in long-term care, a prescription drug benefit for Medicare beneficiaries, and $20 million for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to conduct research directed toward the reduction of medical errors.

ANA is extremely supportive of funding for initiatives that develop ways to prevent and reduce medical errors. ANA President Mary Foley, MS, RN, recently testified before the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives regarding this issue. (See ANA testimony.)

In her testimony she stated, "ANA has long advocated for the investigation of system changes that may result in egregious errors. In today's environment, it is imperative that those in the nursing profession assert their role as patient advocates by supporting public policies that protect consumers, enhance accountability for quality and promote access to a full range of health care services."

Funding for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which houses funding for nursing education and research programs totals $421.4 billion, an increase of 9 percent over FY'00. Unfortunately, the Health Professions Education and Training programs within the HHS budget did not fare as well. Overall funding for these programs totals $298 million. This total reflects a shifting of priorities and a $94 million decrease over last year's funding for health professions training. Despite this decrease, Nurse Education Act (NEA) programs were level funded. A total of $67.8 million was allocated to NEA.

The NEA, funded under Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act, provides the lion's share of federal support for education of nurses, the largest of the health professions. These funds primarily support graduate-level programs which enroll approximately 30,000 students annually. These programs prepare registered nurses to assume advanced practice roles. APRN is an umbrella term given to an 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 the nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, certified registered nurse anesthetist and certified nurse-midwife.

In addition, monies in Title VIII provide funding for nurse-managed clinics affiliated with university schools of nursing. These clinics, staffed by nursing students and faculty, provide thousands of primary care visits to a wide range of underserved populations, such as poor children and elderly in many inner cities.

"In today's health care environment, we are seeing nurse staffing shortages in several critical care areas. In light of the decrease in funding for HHS, level funding is welcomed; however, it remains inadequate to address the nursing workforce needs of the future," said Foley.

ANA, its state nurses associations (SNAs) and their members have made a concerted effort to lobby Congress in support of NEA funding through the Nurses Strategic Action Team (N-STAT), a grassroots network of more than 50,000 nurses. Although ANA is pleased that NEA programs received level funding, it will advocate for a 15 percent increase.

As health care shifts from the hospital setting to community-based sites, and the types of health care services needed become more complex, the demand for highly skilled RNs also will increase. In addition, the recent trend to reduce RN staffs and increase the use of unlicensed assistive personnel, sometimes referred to as nurses' aides, patient care associates, patient care technicians, or nursing assistants, has proved unsatisfactory, producing poor outcomes, and prompting more hospitals to boost RN recruitment. Furthermore, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of RNs will increase, faster than the average for all occupations, through 2006. The demand for RNs also will be fueled by converging demographic trends, an aging population overall, as well as an aging RN work force. In 1996, according to the Division of Nursing, the average age of RNs in the U.S. was 44 years and only 9 percent of the nation's 2.6 million registered nurses were under the age of 30.

The second priority for ANA and nursing is funding for the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Though NIH received an overall increase of 5.6 percent or $1 billion, NINR received the smallest increase of all the institutes. The president's budget proposed an increase of only 3.3 percent for NINR. With this in mind, ANA will advocate for a $20 million increase in funding for FY-01.

"Nursing research is an integral part of effective nursing," said Foley. "Nursing care has shown that prevention works, and nurses are applying that research in clinical practice everyday."

In reference to funding for labor programs, ANA is pleased with the funding increases proposed for the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Labor Relations Board. ANA will work diligently to secure these proposed funding increases.

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ANA 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 workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

2000 press releases

Other past press releases: 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996

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