ANA Commends Bush For Funding Nursing Education

Washington, DC --The American Nurses Association (ANA) commends President Bush for recognizing the nursing shortage and the need to fund programs to enhance the recruitment and retention of nurses, as outlined in his proposed fiscal year (FY) 2004 budget submitted to Congress yesterday.

The president's budget provides $98 million for nursing programs. This includes $7 million to implement the newly authorized scholarship programs contained in the Nurse Reinvestment Act (NRA), which was signed into law on Aug. 1, 2002. Scholarship recipients must provide nursing care for a minimum of two years in a facility with a critical shortage of nurses to fulfill their service commitment.

In addition, the budget reflects a redistribution of monies between basic and advanced nursing education. The redistribution places the funding priority on basic education and reflects the recommendations of an independent expert panel. ANA supports the panel's recommendations, which are designed to help attract people into the profession while maintaining support for advanced practice nurses. For FY 2004, the budget allocates $72 million to support basic nurse workforce development and $26 million for advanced nursing education. Furthermore, the budget includes $10 million for scholarships focused on increasing diversity in the health professions through the Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students program.

"We applaud the president for recognizing the need to invest in nursing education at a time of competing national priorities," said ANA President Barbara Blakeney, MS, APRN,BC, ANP. "With predictions that we will be short more than 800,000 registered nurses by the year 2020, we need to act now."

Blakeney further noted the need for Congress to finish its work to fund the Nurse Reinvestment Act for FY 2003, especially in light of nurse reservists being called up for active military duty. The Senate passed a bill that includes $20 million in new funding for the NRA in FY 2003. ANA is calling on the House to agree to this provision in order to make this funding a reality. "We urge the House to match the Senate in its bipartisan support for funding that will pay dividends in the form of better access to and better quality of health care," said Blakeney.

ANA also commended the president for funding educational programs to prepare the health care workforce to respond to acts of bioterrorism and for maintaining or increasing funding for such key programs as the National Health Service Corps, maternal and child health block grants and care of individuals living with HIV/AIDS.

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ANA is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.7 million Registered Nurses through its 54 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 the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

2003 press releases

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