II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4844 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to support and stabilize the existing 

nursing workforce, establish programs to increase the number of nurses, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2022 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself and Mr. TILLIS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to support and 

stabilize the existing nursing workforce, establish programs to increase the number of nurses, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Nursing 

5 Workforce Center Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STATE NURSING WORKFORCE CENTERS. 

7 Title VII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

8 292 et seq.) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating part G (42 U.S.C. 295j et 

2 seq.) as part H; and 

3 (2) by inserting after part F the following new 

4 part: 

5 ‘‘PART G—NURSING WORKFORCE CENTERS 

6 ‘‘SEC. 785. STATE AND REGIONAL NURSING WORKFORCE 

7 CENTER DATA COLLECTION PILOT PRO8 GRAM. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry out a 

10 3-year pilot program to establish new or enhance existing 

11 State-based nursing workforce centers, evaluate the im12 pact of State-based nursing workforce centers on out13 comes, and assess the feasibility of nursing workforce pub14 lic-private partnerships. The Secretary shall begin imple15 mentation of such pilot program not later than 1 year 

16 after the date of enactment of the National Nursing Work17 force Center Act of 2022. 

18 ‘‘(b) GRANT TERMS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) NUMBER OF GRANTS AWARDED.—The 

20 Secretary shall award not fewer than 6 grants under 

21 the pilot program under subsection (a). 

22 ‘‘(2) TERM.—The term of a grant awarded 

23 under the pilot program under subsection (a) shall 

24 be 3 years. 


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1 ‘‘(3) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—As a condi2 tion on receipt of a grant under the pilot program 

3 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall require the 

4 applicant to agree, with respect to costs to be in5 curred by the applicant in carrying out the activities 

6 funded through the grant, to make available non7 Federal contributions (in cash or in kind) toward 

8 such costs in an amount that is equal to not less 

9 than $1 for each $4 of Federal funds provided 

10 through the grant. Such contributions may be made 

11 directly or through donations from public or private 

12 entities. 

13 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

14 under this section, an entity shall be— 

15 ‘‘(1) a State agency; 

16 ‘‘(2) a State board of nursing; 

17 ‘‘(3) an organization that is exempt from tax18 ation under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Rev19 enue Act of 1986; 

20 ‘‘(4) a community-based organization; 

21 ‘‘(5) a school of nursing (as defined in section 

22 801); or 

23 ‘‘(6) a school or program determined by the 

24 Secretary to be an eligible entity for purposes of this 

25 section. 


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1 ‘‘(d) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—In awarding 

2 grants under this section, the Secretary shall ensure, to 

3 the greatest extent possible, that such grants are equitably 

4 distributed among— 

5 ‘‘(1) the geographical regions of the United 

6 States; and 

7 ‘‘(2) States with an existing nursing workforce 

8 center and States without any such existing center. 

9 ‘‘(e) PRIORITY.—In selecting the eligible entity to be 

10 awarded a grant under this section for a nursing work11 force center in a particular State, the Secretary shall give 

12 priority to eligible entities that— 

13 ‘‘(1) propose to provide statewide services; 

14 ‘‘(2) have expertise in the State’s nursing work15 force issues; 

16 ‘‘(3) have a history of convening entities to ad17 dress nursing workforce issues; and 

18 ‘‘(4) have partnerships with entities that tradi19 tionally educate and employ the State’s nurses. 

20 ‘‘(f) USE OF FUNDS.—A nursing workforce center 

21 supported under this section may use funds provided 

22 under this section for the following statewide activities: 

23 ‘‘(1) Conducting comprehensive analysis of and 

24 research on— 


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1 ‘‘(A) existing State nursing workforce data 

2 and gaps in such data; 

3 ‘‘(B) 2- and 4-year nursing education pro4 grams, including with respect to— 

5 ‘‘(i) faculty capacity and pay; 

6 ‘‘(ii) enrollment, retention, and grad7 uation; 

8 ‘‘(iii) services for nursing students 

9 and the outcomes of such services; 

10 ‘‘(iv) facility needs; and 

11 ‘‘(v) clinical placement capacity; 

12 ‘‘(C) State-specific scholarships, grants, 

13 and financial aid; and 

14 ‘‘(D) factors contributing to retention and 

15 recruitment challenges and to nurses leaving 

16 the workplace or profession. 

17 ‘‘(2) Conducting strategic nursing workforce 

18 planning with employers across all work settings and 

19 nursing education. 

20 ‘‘(3) Conducting focused research on trends in 

21 nursing shortages, including the fiscal and clinical 

22 outcomes of contract nursing. 

23 ‘‘(4) Establishing and implementing programs 

24 to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) support and retain faculty to increase 

2 enrollment in schools of nursing; 

3 ‘‘(B) recruit and retain nurses in all set4 tings where nurses practice; 

5 ‘‘(C) support leadership development; 

6 ‘‘(D) prepare the nursing workforce to ad7 dress social determinants of health and health 

8 inequities; 

9 ‘‘(E) prepare nurses for public health crisis 

10 and pandemic response; 

11 ‘‘(F) assist individuals in obtaining edu12 cation and training required to enter the nurs13 ing profession, and advance within such profes14 sion, such as by providing career counseling and 

15 mentoring; and 

16 ‘‘(G) diversify the nursing workforce. 

17 ‘‘(g) REPORTS.—Not later than one year after the 

18 date on which the first grant is awarded under the pilot 

19 program under subsection (a), and annually thereafter, 

20 the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the 

21 grants awarded under such pilot program during the year 

22 covered by the report. Each such report shall include— 

23 ‘‘(1) a description of initiatives to study the 

24 unique characteristics of State nursing workforces, 

25 and efforts to increase the number of new nurses, 


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1 recruit nurses to the nursing profession, and retain 

2 nurses in the workplace; 

3 ‘‘(2) impact data on nurses served by nursing 

4 workforce centers, including demographic informa5 tion of the individuals served, the number of such in6 dividuals, and the types of services provided; 

7 ‘‘(3) the effectiveness of establishing formal 

8 public-private relationships at understanding the na9 tional nursing workforce through improved data col10 lection and standardization; 

11 ‘‘(4) data on continuous evaluation and quality 

12 improvement, and other relevant data as determined 

13 by the Secretary; and 

14 ‘‘(5) the Secretary’s recommendations and best 

15 practices for— 

16 ‘‘(A) reducing shortages among different 

17 nursing specialties; 

18 ‘‘(B) reducing shortages in rural and un19 derserved areas; 

20 ‘‘(C) improving geographical distribution of 

21 the nursing workforce; and 

22 ‘‘(D) reducing shortages among different 

23 types of nursing employers. 

24 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

25 carry out this section, out of funds appropriated to the 


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1 general departmental management account of the Office 

2 of the Secretary, there is authorized to be appropriated 

3 $1,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2025.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. STATE AND REGIONAL CENTERS FOR HEALTH 

5 WORKFORCE ANALYSIS. 

6 (a) EXPANSION OF COVERED PROGRAMS.—Section 

7 761(c)(1)(A) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

8 294n(c)(1)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘under this title’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘under this Act’’. 

10 (b) ANALYSIS AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Sec11 tion 761(c) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 294n(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(3) MINIMUM REQUIREMENT.—At least one 

14 grant or contract awarded under this subsection 

15 shall be awarded to an eligible entity that dem16 onstrates— 

17 ‘‘(A) a mission to advance and support the 

18 nursing workforce; 

19 ‘‘(B) experience and expertise in guiding 

20 State-level nursing workforce centers; 

21 ‘‘(C) experience in working with nursing 

22 workforce data; 

23 ‘‘(D) expertise in analytical methods and 

24 tools appropriate for nursing workforce re25 search; and 


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1 ‘‘(E) awareness of emerging topics, issues, 

2 and trends related to the nursing workforce. 

3 ‘‘(4) ANALYSIS AND REPORTING.—Analysis and 

4 reporting carried out pursuant to a grant or con5 tract under this subsection may include— 

6 ‘‘(A) collaborating with nursing workforce 

7 centers to produce or deliver, with respect to 

8 the supply of nurses, the demand for nurses, 

9 and the capacity to educate and train the nurs10 ing workforce— 

11 ‘‘(i) regional and national reports; 

12 ‘‘(ii) articles in peer-reviewed journals; 

13 ‘‘(iii) presentations at national and 

14 international conferences and meetings; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(iv) policy briefs, fact sheets, articles, 

17 blogs, and other publications available in 

18 the public domain; 

19 ‘‘(B) evaluating the programs and activi20 ties of the nursing workforce centers overall; 

21 ‘‘(C) developing evidence-based or evi22 dence-informed strategies and best practices to 

23 alleviate nursing workforce shortages across 

24 States and regions; and 


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1 ‘‘(D) conducting rapid data analysis and 

2 short-term, issue-specific research. 

3 ‘‘(5) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Technical as4 sistance provided pursuant to this subsection may 

5 include— 

6 ‘‘(A) providing technical assistance to 

7 nursing workforce centers on the collection, 

8 analysis, and reporting of standardized supply, 

9 demand, and education and training data to in10 form analysis conducted pursuant to paragraph 

11 (1); 

12 ‘‘(B) collaborating with nursing workforce 

13 centers to identify and deliver evidence-based or 

14 evidence-informed strategies to alleviate nursing 

15 shortages and the maldistribution of nurses; 

16 ‘‘(C) providing online and in-person train17 ing opportunities for nurses and other staff at 

18 nursing workforce centers; and 

19 ‘‘(D) developing and maintaining a website 

20 that— 

21 ‘‘(i) is accessible to grant and contract 

22 recipients under section 785 and this sec23 tion; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) supports resources for the provi2 sion of technical assistance under this sec3 tion, such as— 

4 ‘‘(I) evidence-based or evidence5 informed educational materials, tools, 

6 recent findings of interest, and links 

7 to relevant resources; and 

8 ‘‘(II) logistical and administrative 

9 information, such as online trainings, 

10 webinars, and publications; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) includes a publicly accessible re12 pository of webinars, tools, and resources. 

13 ‘‘(6) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

14 ‘nursing workforce center’ means a nursing work15 force center funded under section 785.’’. 

Æ 


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