FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 20, 2001
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Joan Meehan-Hurwitz,, 202-651-7020
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ANA Commends House of Representatives for Passage of Nurse Reinvestment Act
Washington, DC --The American Nurses Association hailed today's passage of the Nurse Reinvestment Act (H.R. 3487) by the U.S. House of Representatives as a major boost for recruiting more nurses into the profession and stemming the nation's impending nursing shortage.
If signed into law, the measure, which was introduced by Reps. Lois Capps (D-CA) and Michael Bilirakis (R-FL), would authorize federal funding for scholarships and loan repayments for nursing students who agree to work in shortage areas after they graduate. In addition, the bill would include funding for public service announcements aimed at promoting nursing as a career.
"The Nurse Reinvestment Act will go a long way toward attracting young people into the nursing profession and should help sidestep a looming shortage that may soon reach crisis proportions," said American Nurses Association President Mary E. Foley, MS, RN. "This investment in the nursing workforce is crucial to the health and welfare of all Americans and will enhance the nation's ability to respond to public health crises. ANA applauds the work of Representatives Capps and Bilirakis in making nursing recruitment and education a priority."
According to Foley, the current nurse staffing crisis and emerging shortage of RNs pose a real threat to the nation's health care system, particularly following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Employers, who already were having difficulty hiring experienced nurses – especially in emergency departments, critical care, labor and delivery, and long term care – now have to consider the potential impact of the war on terrorism on nurse staff vacancies combined with efforts to enhance response capacity for biological and chemical warfare. These added factors, along with declines in nursing school enrollments and the aging of America's nursing workforce, "are placing even greater strains on America's nurses," Foley said.
Citing projections which show that the number of RNs per capita will fall 20 percent below requirements by the year 2020 – in part because fewer young people are coming into the profession while many older, experienced nurses are retiring – Foley said the nursing education legislation will help stem the nursing shortage by recruiting more nurses into the profession. But, at the same time, she noted, additional measures are still necessary to prevent today's practicing nurses from leaving the profession as a result of serious problems in the workplace, including stressful, physically demanding working conditions; unresolved health and safety concerns; and mandatory overtime.
"The funding for education provided by this bill will boost nursing school enrollments and enable practicing nurses to go back to school to increase their levels of education – and that is encouraging," Foley said. "It is now up to the Senate to act on this recruitment legislation, and to Congress as a whole to act to improve working conditions for nurses – so we can retain the nurses we recruit."
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The American Nurses Association is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.7 million Registered Nurses through its constituent member nurses associations. The ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the rights of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.
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