To authorize programs to increase the number of nurses within the Armed Forces through assistance for service as nurse faculty or education as nurses, and for other purposes.

Summary: Troops to Nurse Teachers Act of 2008 - Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to carry out programs under which commissioned officers of the nurse corps: (1) serve as full-time faculty of accredited schools of nursing in exchange for additional service or in exchange for scholarships provided by the school to those accepting commissions in the nurse corps; (2) receive scholarships leading to a graduate degree in nursing in exchange for service as nursing school faculty and to undertake activities to encourage nurses to serve in the Armed Forces nurse corps; (3) receive nursing faculty career placement and continuing education assistance if they are retirement-eligible and have graduate degrees qualifying them as nurse instructors; or (4) receive, while serving after retirement as faculty at a nursing school, retired pay without reduction and a pay differential to ensure that compensation for faculty member service will not be less than the basic pay received before retirement.

Requires: (1) any program established under this Act to last at least two years; and (2) the Secretary to assess each program to determine if it should be continued.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Troops to Nurse Teachers Act of 
2008''.

SEC. 2. PROGRAMS TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF NURSES WITHIN THE ARMED 
              FORCES.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Defense may provide for the 
carrying out of each of the programs described in subsections (b) 
through (f).
    (b) Service of Nurse Officers as Faculty in Exchange for Commitment 
to Additional Service in the Armed Forces.--
            (1) In general.--One of the programs under this section may 
        be a program in which covered commissioned officers with a 
        graduate degree in nursing or a related field who are in the 
        nurse corps of the Armed Force concerned serve a tour of duty 
        of two years as a full-time faculty member of an accredited 
        school of nursing.
            (2) Covered officers.--A commissioned officer of the nurse 
        corps of the Armed Forces described in this paragraph is a 
        nurse officer on active duty who has served for more than nine 
        years on active duty in the Armed Forces as an officer of the 
        nurse corps at the time of the commencement of the tour of duty 
        described in paragraph (1).
            (3) Benefits and privileges.--An officer serving on the 
        faculty of an accredited school or nursing under this 
        subsection shall be accorded all the benefits, privileges, and 
        responsibilities (other than compensation and compensation-
        related benefits) of any other comparably situated individual 
        serving a full-time faculty member of such school.
            (4) Agreement for additional service.--Each officer who 
        serves a tour of duty on the faculty of a school of nursing 
        under this subsection shall enter into an agreement with the 
        Secretary to serve upon the completion of such tour of duty for 
        a period of four years for such tour of duty as a member of the 
        nurse corps of the Armed Force concerned. Any service agreed to 
        by an officer under this paragraph is in addition to any other 
        service required of the officer under law.
    (c) Service of Nurse Officers as Faculty in Exchange for 
Scholarships for Nurse Officer Candidates.--
            (1) In general.--One of the programs under this section may 
        be a program in which commissioned officers with a graduate 
        degree in nursing or a related field who are in the nurse corps 
        of the Armed Force concerned serve while on active duty a tour 
        of duty of two years as a full-time faculty member of an 
        accredited school of nursing.
            (2) Benefits and privileges.--An officer serving on the 
        faculty of an accredited school of nursing under this 
        subsection shall be accorded all the benefits, privileges, and 
        responsibilities (other than compensation and compensation-
        related benefits) of any other comparably situated individual 
        serving as a full-time faculty member of such school.
            (3) Scholarships for nurse officer candidates.--(A) Each 
        accredited school of nursing at which an officer serves on the 
        faculty under this subsection shall provide scholarships to 
        individuals undertaking an educational program at such school 
        leading to a degree in nursing who agree, upon completion of 
        such program, to accept a commission as an officer in the nurse 
        corps of the Armed Forces.
            (B) The total amount of funds made available for 
        scholarships by an accredited school of nursing under 
        subparagraph (A) for each officer serving on the faculty of 
        that school under this subsection shall be not less than the 
        amount equal to an entry-level full-time faculty member of that 
        school for each year that such officer so serves on the faculty 
        of that school.
            (C) The total number of scholarships provided by an 
        accredited school of nursing under subparagraph (A) for each 
        officer serving on the faculty of that school under this 
        subsection shall be such number as the Secretary of Defense 
        shall specify for purposes of this subsection.
    (d) Scholarships for Certain Nurse Officers for Education as 
Nurses.--
            (1) In general.--One of the programs under this section may 
        be a program in which the Secretary provides scholarships to 
        commissioned officers of the nurse corps of the Armed Force 
        concerned described in paragraph (2) who enter into an 
        agreement described in paragraph (4) for the participation of 
        such officers in an educational program of an accredited school 
        of nursing leading to a graduate degree in nursing.
            (2) Covered nurse officers.--A commissioned officer of the 
        nurse corps of the Armed Forces described in this paragraph is 
        a nurse officer who has served not less than 20 years on active 
        duty in the Armed Forces and is otherwise eligible for 
        retirement from the Armed Forces.
            (3) Scope of scholarships.--Amounts in a scholarship 
        provided a nurse officer under this subsection may be utilized 
        by the officer to pay the costs of tuition, fees, and other 
        educational expenses of the officer in participating in an 
        educational program described in paragraph (1).
            (4) Agreement.--An agreement of a nurse officer described 
        in this paragraph is the agreement of the officer--
                    (A) to participate in an educational program 
                described in paragraph (1); and
                    (B) upon graduation from such educational program--
                            (i) to serve not less than two years as a 
                        full-time faculty member of an accredited 
                        school of nursing; and
                            (ii) to undertake such activities as the 
                        Secretary considers appropriate to encourage 
                        current and prospective nurses to pursue 
                        service in the nurse corps of the Armed Forces.
    (e) Transition Assistance for Retiring Nurse Officers Qualified as 
Faculty.--
            (1) In general.--One of the programs under this section may 
        be a program in which the Secretary provides to commissioned 
        officers of the nurse corps of the Armed Force concerned 
        described in paragraph (2) the assistance described in 
        paragraph (3) to assist such officers in obtaining and 
        fulfilling positions as full-time faculty members of an 
        accredited school of nursing after retirement from the Armed 
        Forces.
            (2) Covered nurse officers.--A commissioned officer of the 
        nurse corps of the Armed Forces described in this paragraph is 
        a nurse officer who--
                    (A) has served an aggregate of at least 20 years on 
                active duty or in reserve active status in the Armed 
                Forces;
                    (B) is eligible for retirement from the Armed 
                Forces; and
                    (C) possesses a doctoral or master degree in 
                nursing or a related field which qualifies the nurse 
                officer to discharge the position of nurse instructor 
                at an accredited school of nursing.
            (3) Assistance.--The assistance described in this paragraph 
        is assistance as follows:
                    (A) Career placement assistance.
                    (B) Continuing education.
                    (C) Stipends (in an amount specified by the 
                Secretary).
            (4) Agreement.--A nurse officer provided assistance under 
        this subsection shall enter into an agreement with the 
        Secretary to serve as a full-time faculty member of an 
        accredited school of nursing for such period as the Secretary 
        shall provide in the agreement.
    (f) Benefits for Retired Nurse Officers Accepting Appointment as 
Faculty.--
            (1) In general.--One of the programs under this section may 
        be a program in which the Secretary provides to any individual 
        described in paragraph (2) the benefits specified in paragraph 
        (3).
            (2) Covered individuals.--An individual described in this 
        paragraph is an individual who--
                    (A) is retired from the Armed Forces after service 
                as a commissioned officer in the nurse corps of the 
                Armed Forces;
                    (B) holds a graduate degree in nursing; and
                    (C) serves as a full-time faculty member of an 
                accredited school of nursing.
            (3) Benefits.--The benefits specified in this paragraph 
        shall include the following:
                    (A) Payment of retired or retirement pay without 
                reduction based on receipt of pay or other compensation 
                from the institution of higher education concerned.
                    (B) Payment by the institution of higher education 
                concerned of a salary and other compensation to which 
                other similarly situated faculty members of the 
                institution of higher education would be entitled.
                    (C) If the amount of pay and other compensation 
                payable by the institution of higher education 
                concerned for service as an associate full-time faculty 
                member is less than the basic pay to which the 
                individual was entitled immediately before retirement 
                from the Armed Forces, payment of an amount equal to 
                the difference between such basic pay and such payment 
                and other compensation.
    (g) Administration and Duration of Programs.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish requirements 
        and procedures for the administration of the programs 
        authorized by this section. Such requirements and procedures 
        shall include procedures for selecting participating schools of 
        nursing.
            (2) Duration.--Any program carried out under this section 
        shall continue for not less than two years.
            (3) Assessment.--Not later than two years after commencing 
        any program under this section, the Secretary shall assess the 
        results of such program and determine whether or not to 
        continue such program. The assessment of any program shall be 
        based on measurable criteria, information concerning results, 
        and such other matters as the Secretary considers appropriate.
            (4) Continuation.--The Secretary may continue carrying out 
        any program under this section that the Secretary determines, 
        pursuant to an assessment under paragraph (3), to continue to 
        carry out. In continuing to carry out a program, the Secretary 
        may modify the terms of the program within the scope of this 
        section. The continuation of any program may include its 
        expansion to include additional participating schools of 
        nursing.
    (h) Definitions.--In this section, the terms ``school of nursing'' 
and ``accredited'' have the meaning given those terms in section 801 of 
the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296).