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[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1575 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1575

  To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize a demonstration 
  program to increase the number of doctorally-prepared nurse faculty.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 29, 2005

 Mr. Bingaman (for himself, Mr. Cornyn, Ms. Mikulski, Ms. Collins, Mr. 
Jeffords, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Reed, Mr. Nelson of Nebraska, Ms. Cantwell, 
 Mr. Durbin, Mr. Corzine, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Lautenberg, and 
  Mr. Inouye) 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 authorize a demonstration 
  program to increase the number of doctorally-prepared nurse faculty.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Nurse Faculty Education Act of 
2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) The Nurse Reinvestment Act (Public Law 107-205) has 
        helped to support students preparing to be nurse educators. 
        Yet, nursing schools nationwide are forced to deny admission to 
        individuals due to lack of qualified nurse faculty.
            (2) According to the February 2004 Monthly Labor Review of 
        the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 1,000,000 new and 
        replacement nurses will be needed by 2012.
            (3) According to the American Association of Colleges of 
        Nursing, in the 2004-2005 academic year, 29,425 individuals, or 
        35 percent of the qualified applicants were not accepted into 
        nursing baccalaureate programs. 2,748 potential nursing 
        master's students and over 200 nurses qualified for admission 
        to doctoral programs were not accepted. Estimates from the 
        National League of Nursing indicate that over 123,000 qualified 
        applications could not be accommodated in associate degree, 
        diploma, and baccalaureate registered nurse educational 
        programs in 2004.
            (4) Seventy-six percent of schools report insufficient 
        faculty as the primary reason for not accepting qualified 
        applicants. The primary reasons for lack of faculty are lack of 
        funds to hire new faculty, inability to identify, recruit and 
        hire faculty in the current competitive job market, and lack of 
        nursing faculty available in different geographic areas.
            (5) Despite the fact that 75 percent of graduates of 
        doctoral nursing program enter education roles (versus about 5 
        percent of graduates of nursing master's programs), the 93 
        doctoral programs nationwide produce only 400 graduates. This 
        annual graduation rate is insufficient to meet current needs 
        for nurse faculty. In keeping with other professional academic 
        disciplines, nurse faculty at colleges and universities are 
        typically doctorally-prepared.
            (6) With the average age of nurse faculty at retirement at 
        62.5 years of age and the average age of doctorally-prepared 
        faculty currently at 53.5 years, the health care system faces 
        unprecedented workforce and health access challenges with 
        current and future shortages of deans, nurse educators, and 
        nurses.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT.

    Part D of title VIII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
296p et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 832. NURSE FACULTY EDUCATION.

    ``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary, acting through the Health 
Resources and Services Administration, shall establish a Nurse Faculty 
Education Program to ensure an adequate supply of nurse faculty through 
the awarding of grants to eligible entities to--
            ``(1) provide support for the hiring of new faculty, the 
        retaining of existing faculty, and the purchase of educational 
        resources;
            ``(2) provide for increasing enrollment and graduation 
        rates for students from doctoral programs; and
            ``(3) assist graduates from the entity in serving as nurse 
        faculty in schools of nursing;
    ``(b) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
subsection (a), an entity shall--
            ``(1) be a school of nursing that offers a doctoral degree 
        in nursing in a State or territory;
            ``(2) submit to the Secretary an application at such time, 
        in such manner, and containing such information as the 
        Secretary may require;
            ``(3) develop and implement a plan in accordance with 
        subsection (c);
            ``(4) agree to submit an annual report to the Secretary 
        that includes updated information on the doctoral program 
        involved, including information with respect to--
                    ``(A) student enrollment;
                    ``(B) student retention;
                    ``(C) graduation rates;
                    ``(D) the number of graduates employed part-time or 
                full-time in a nursing faculty position; and
                    ``(E) retention in nursing faculty positions within 
                1 year and 2 years of employment;
            ``(5) agree to permit the Secretary to make on-site 
        inspections, and to comply with the requests of the Secretary 
        for information, to determine the extent to which the school is 
        complying with the requirements of this section; and
            ``(6) meet such other requirements as determined 
        appropriate by the Secretary.
    ``(c) Use of Funds.--Not later than 1 year after the receipt of a 
grant under this section, an entity shall develop and implement a plan 
for using amounts received under this grant in a manner that 
establishes not less than 2 of the following:
            ``(1) Partnering opportunities with practice and academic 
        institutions to facilitate doctoral education and research 
        experiences that are mutually beneficial.
            ``(2) Partnering opportunities with educational 
        institutions to facilitate the hiring of graduates from the 
        entity into nurse faculty, prior to, and upon completion of the 
        program.
            ``(3) Partnering opportunities with nursing schools to 
        place students into internship programs which provide hands-on 
        opportunity to learn about the nurse faculty role.
            ``(4) Cooperative education programs among schools of 
        nursing to share use of technological resources and distance 
        learning technologies that serve rural students and underserved 
        areas.
            ``(5) Opportunities for minority and diverse student 
        populations (including aging nurses in clinical roles) 
        interested in pursuing doctoral education.
            ``(6) Pre-entry preparation opportunities including 
        programs that assist returning students in standardized test 
        preparation, use of information technology, and the statistical 
        tools necessary for program enrollment.
            ``(7) A nurse faculty mentoring program.
            ``(8) A Registered Nurse baccalaureate to Ph. D. program to 
        expedite the completion of a doctoral degree and entry to nurse 
        faculty role.
            ``(9) Career path opportunities for 2nd degree students to 
        become nurse faculty.
            ``(10) Marketing outreach activities to attract students 
        committed to becoming nurse faculty.
    ``(d) Priority.--In awarding grants under this section, the 
Secretary shall give priority to entities from States and territories 
that have a lower number of employed nurses per 100,000 population.
    ``(e) Number and Amount of Grants.--Grants under this section shall 
be awarded as follows:
            ``(1) In fiscal year 2006, the Secretary shall award 10 
        grants of $100,000 each.
            ``(2) In fiscal year 2007, the Secretary shall award an 
        additional 10 grants of $100,000 each and provide continued 
        funding for the existing grantees under paragraph (1) in the 
        amount of $100,000 each.
            ``(3) In fiscal year 2008, the Secretary shall award an 
        additional 10 grants of $100,000 each and provide continued 
        funding for the existing grantees under paragraphs (1) and (2) 
        in the amount of $100,000 each.
            ``(4) In fiscal year 2009, the Secretary shall provide 
        continued funding for each of the existing grantees under 
        paragraphs (1) through (3) in the amount of $100,000 each.
            ``(5) In fiscal year 2010, the Secretary shall provide 
        continued funding for each of the existing grantees under 
        paragraphs (1) through (3) in the amount of $100,000 each.
    ``(f) Limitations.--
            ``(1) Payment.--Payments to an entity under a grant under 
        this section shall be for a period of not to exceed 5 years.
            ``(2) Improper use of funds.--An entity that fails to use 
        amounts received under a grant under this section as provided 
        for in subsection (c) shall, at the discretion of the 
        Secretary, be required to remit to the Federal Government not 
        less than 80 percent of the amounts received under the grant.
    ``(g) Reports.--
            ``(1) Evaluation.--The Secretary shall conduct an 
        evaluation of the results of the activities carried out under 
        grants under this section.
            ``(2) Reports.--Not later than 3 years after the date of 
        the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit to 
        Congress an interim report on the results of the evaluation 
        conducted under paragraph (1). Not later than 6 months after 
        the end of the program under this section, the Secretary shall 
        submit to Congress a final report on the results of such 
        evaluation.
    ``(h) Study.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 3 years after the date of 
        the enactment of this section, the Comptroller General of the 
        United States shall conduct a study and submit a report to 
        Congress concerning activities to increase participation in the 
        nurse educator program under the section.
            ``(2) Contents.--The report under paragraph (1) shall 
        include the following:
                    ``(A) An examination of the capacity of nursing 
                schools to meet workforce needs on a nationwide basis.
                    ``(B) An analysis and discussion of sustainability 
                options for continuing programs beyond the initial 
                funding period.
                    ``(C) An examination and understanding of the 
                doctoral degree programs that are successful in placing 
                graduates as faculty in schools of nursing.
                    ``(D) An analysis of program design under this 
                section and the impact of such design on nurse faculty 
                retention and workforce shortages.
                    ``(E) An analysis of compensation disparities 
                between nursing clinical practitioners and nurse 
                faculty and between higher education nurse faculty and 
                higher education faculty overall.
                    ``(F) Recommendations to enhance faculty retention 
                and the nursing workforce.
    ``(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--
            ``(1) In general.--For the costs of carrying out this 
        section (except the costs described in paragraph (2), there are 
        authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, 
        $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2007, and $3,000,000 for each of 
        fiscal years 2008 through 2010.
            ``(2) Administrative costs.--For the costs of administering 
        this section, including the costs of evaluating the results of 
        grants and submitting reports to the Congress, there are 
        authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for 
        each of fiscal years 2006 through 2010.''.
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