I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2053

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants 

to associate degree schools of nursing and professional nursing organizations to improve nursing education, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 9, 2003

Mr. CAPUANO (for himself, Mr. FLETCHER, Ms. NORTON, Ms. MILLENDERMCDONALD, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. FROST, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. LEE, Mr. 

REYES, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. MARKEY, and 

Mr. BACA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to award grants to associate degree schools of nursing 

and professional nursing organizations to improve nursing education, 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 referred to as the ‘‘Nurse Education 

5 Promotion Act’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR NURSING EDUCATION. 

2 (a) ASSOCIATE SCHOOLS OF NURSING.—Part D of 

3 title VIII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

4 296p et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 832. GRANTS FOR ASSOCIATE DEGREE SCHOOLS OF 

7 NURSING. 

8 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may 

9 award grants on a competitive basis to associate degree 

10 schools of nursing to establish or expand programs of edu11 cation in professional nursing. 

12 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary may not award 

13 a grant to an applicant under subsection (a) unless the 

14 applicant involved agrees that funds received as a grant 

15 under this section will be used only to pay all or part of 

16 the costs of the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) Recruitment of nursing students. 

18 ‘‘(2) Scholarships for nursing students. 

19 ‘‘(3) Hiring nursing faculty. 

20 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY FOR SCHOLARSHIPS.—For pur21 poses of awarding a scholarship described in subsection 

22 (b)(2), an associate degree school of nursing shall treat 

23 an individual as eligible for the scholarship irrespective of 

24 whether the individual has or has not previously received 

25 any postsecondary education.’’. 
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1 (b) CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR CERTAIN

2 NURSES.—Part D of title VIII of the Public Health Serv3 ice Act (42 U.S.C. 296p et seq.) is further amended by 

4 adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 833. GRANTS FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR CER6 TAIN NURSES. 

7 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may 

8 award grants on a competitive basis to professional nurs9 ing organizations (including nursing union chapters) to es10 tablish and administer cooperative programs described in 

11 subsection (b). 

12 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary may not award 

13 a grant to an applicant under subsection (a) unless the 

14 applicant involved agrees that funds received as a grant 

15 under this section will be used to establish or administer 

16 a program, in cooperation with one or more hospitals and 

17 one or more colleges, to enable individuals who have re18 ceived an associate degree in nursing (or its equivalent) 

19 or a diploma in nursing—

20 ‘‘(1) to pursue a full-time or half-time course of 

21 study leading to a baccalaureate degree in nursing 

22 or an equivalent degree; or 

23 ‘‘(2) to receive training in a nursing specialty 

24 that has been designated by the Secretary as under25 staffed and critical. 
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1 ‘‘(c) CLINICAL TRAINING.—The Secretary may not 

2 award a grant to a professional nursing organization to 

3 establish or administer a program under subsection (a) 

4 unless the organization agrees to ensure the following: 

5 ‘‘(1) CHOICE.—Subject to paragraph (2), the 

6 professional nursing organization will allow an indi7 vidual pursuing a course of study or receiving train8 ing pursuant to subsection (b)(1) or (b)(2) to choose 

9 to perform the clinical portion of the study or train10 ing at the hospital where the individual is employed 

11 or at any hospital cooperating in the program. 

12 ‘‘(2) AGREEMENT.—An individual may perform 

13 the clinical portion described in paragraph (1) at the 

14 hospital chosen by the individual under such para15 graph only if the hospital agrees to provide the clin16 ical portion. 

17 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—If a particular hospital cannot 

18 accommodate all of the individuals who choose to 

19 perform the clinical portion described in paragraph 

20 (1) at that hospital, the professional nursing organi21 zation will give priority to the choice of any such in22 dividual who is employed at that hospital. 

23 ‘‘(4) RELATION TO REGULAR WORK.— In the 

24 case of an individual who performs the clinical por25 tion described in paragraph (1) at the hospital where 
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1 the individual is employed, that hospital may incor2 porate all or some of the clinical portion into the 

3 regular work period of the individual. 

4 ‘‘(d) COMPENSATION.—The Secretary may not award 

5 a grant to a professional nursing organization to establish 

6 or administer a program under subsection (a) unless the 

7 organization agrees compensate each hospital and college 

8 that cooperates in the program, at rates to be negotiated 

9 between the organization and the respective hospital or 

10 college.’’.

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