II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1109 

To amend title VIII of the Public Health Service Act to extend advanced 

education nursing grants to support clinical nurse specialist programs, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 11, 2017 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. BURR, Ms. BALDWIN, and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend title VIII of the Public Health Service Act to 

extend advanced education nursing grants to support 

clinical nurse specialist programs, 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 ‘‘Title VIII Nursing 

5 Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SUPPORTING CLINICAL NURSE SPECIALISTS. 

2 (a) ADVANCED EDUCATION NURSING GRANTS.—Sec3 tion 811 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

4 296j) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (b)— 

6 (A) by striking ‘‘R.N./Master’s’’ and in7 serting ‘‘R.N./graduate’’; and 

8 (B) by inserting ‘‘clinical nurse leaders,’’ 

9 before ‘‘or public health nurses’’; 

10 (2) by redesignating subsections (f) and (g) as 

11 subsections (g) and (h), respectively; and 

12 (3) by inserting after subsection (e) the fol13 lowing new subsection: 

14 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZED CLINICAL NURSE SPECIALIST

15 PROGRAMS.—Clinical nurse specialist programs eligible 

16 for support under this section are education programs 

17 that— 

18 ‘‘(1) provide registered nurses with full-time 

19 clinical nurse specialist education; and 

20 ‘‘(2) have as their objective the education of 

21 clinical nurse specialists who will upon completion of 

22 such a program be qualified to effectively provide 

23 care through the wellness and illness continuum to 

24 inpatients and outpatients experiencing acute and 

25 chronic illness.’’. 


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1 (b) DEFINITION OF NURSE-MANAGED CLINIC.—Sec2 tion 801 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296) 

3 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(18) NURSE-MANAGED HEALTH CLINIC.—The 

5 term ‘nurse-managed health clinic’ means a nurse6 practice arrangement, managed by advanced practice 

7 nurses, that provides primary care or wellness serv8 ices to underserved or vulnerable populations and 

9 that is associated with a school, college, university, 

10 or department of nursing, federally qualified health 

11 center, or independent nonprofit health or social 

12 services agency.’’. 

13 (c) NATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL ON NURSE EDU14 CATION AND PRACTICE.—Section 851(b)(1)(A)(iv) of the 

15 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 297t(b)(1)(A)(iv)) 

16 is amended by striking ‘‘and nurse anesthetists’’ and in17 serting ‘‘nurse anesthetists, and clinical nurse specialists’’. 

18 SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF FUNDING FOR NURSING 

19 PROGRAMS. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VIII of the Public Health 

21 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296 et seq.) is amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (i)(1) of section 846 (42 

23 U.S.C. 297n; loan repayment and scholarship pro24 grams), by striking ‘‘2007’’ and inserting ‘‘2022’’; 


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1 (2) in subsection (f) of section 846A (42 U.S.C. 

2 297n–1; nurse faculty loan program), by striking 

3 ‘‘2014’’ and inserting ‘‘2022’’; 

4 (3) in subsection (e) of section 865 (42 U.S.C. 

5 298; comprehensive geriatric education), by striking 

6 ‘‘2014’’ and inserting ‘‘2022’’; and 

7 (4) in section 871 (42 U.S.C. 298d; funding for 

8 carrying out parts B, C, and section 831)— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘2016’’ and inserting 

10 ‘‘2022’’; and 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘B, C, and D’’ and insert12 ing ‘‘B and C and section 831’’. 

13 (b) NURSE EDUCATION, PRACTICE, QUALITY, AND

14 RETENTION GRANTS.—Section 831 of the Public Health 

15 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296p) is amended— 

16 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘AND

17 QUALITY’’ and inserting ‘‘QUALITY, AND RETEN18 TION’’; 

19 (2) in subsection (c)(1)— 

20 (A) by amending subparagraph (A) to read 

21 as follows: 

22 ‘‘(A) to promote career advancement for— 

23 ‘‘(i) for nursing personnel in a variety 

24 of training settings, cross training or spe25 cialty training among diverse population 


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1 groups, and the advancement of individuals 

2 including to become professional nurses, 

3 advanced education nurses, licensed prac4 tical nurses, certified nurse assistants, and 

5 home health aides; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) individuals including licensed 

7 practical nurses, licensed vocational nurses, 

8 certified nurse assistants, home health 

9 aides, diploma degree or associate degree 

10 nurses, to become baccalaureate prepared 

11 registered nurses or advanced education 

12 nurses in order to meet the needs of the 

13 registered nurse workforce;’’; 

14 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 

15 period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

16 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(C) developing and implementing intern18 ships and residency programs in collaboration 

19 with an accredited school of nursing, as defined 

20 by section 801(2), to encourage mentoring and 

21 the development of specialties.’’; 

22 (3) in subsection (g)— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘,,’’ and inserting ‘‘,’’; 

24 (B) by striking ‘‘or’’; and 


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1 (C) by inserting ‘‘, or a nurse-managed 

2 health clinic’’ before the period; and 

3 (4) by striking subsection (h). 

Æ 


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