Senator Feingold Supports More Funding For Nurses
By admin - Posted on April 9th, 2008
April 7, 2008 -- Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold is working to support our nation’s nurses by calling for an increase in funding for Nursing Workforce Development (NWD) programs to help with the tremendous staffing and faculty shortages in the nursing workforce. In a bipartisan letter to Senate appropriators, Feingold is requesting $200 million for the NWD programs after the administration proposed a $46.2 million budget cut for an already stressed workforce.
NWD programs are the primary source of federal funding for nursing education. These programs are vital to ensuring registered nurses are ready to practice in rural, urban, and underserved communities.
“Our nurses play a vital and indispensable role in our health care system,” Feingold said. “Nursing Workforce Development programs bring nurses to the areas they are needed the most, in rural and other underserved communities. Congress cannot continue to stand by while the depletion of our nursing workforce continues. This is a vital program and deserves our full support.”
Feingold has been a long-time supporter of efforts to increase funding for nursing programs to help alleviate the current nursing shortage. Feingold supported passage and funding of the Nurse Reinvestment Act. The Act provides scholarships and loan repayment for nurses who serve at least two years in facilities with a critical shortage of nursing care providers. In February 2007, Feingold introduced the Community-Based Health Care Retraining Act, which would help train qualified, unemployed workers for employment in the growing and understaffed health care industry. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Health Resources and Services Administration projects that by 2020 there will be a demand for 2.7 million registered nurses. HRSA projects the severity of the nursing shortage will deepen if current trends continue. NWD program funding can help alleviate the challenges faced by nurses and ensure a better future for a nation with growing health care needs.
“For ten years, the nursing shortage has directly and negatively impacted the United States healthcare delivery system. As a result, the quality and safety of patient care has been jeopardized,” the letter read. “Congress must do more to address the nursing workforce crisis. We believe that a $200 million commitment to Title VIII Nursing Education and Workforce Development programs is a responsible and important investment in the health of all Americans.”
Source: Senator Russ Feingold
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