II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3770 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants to support 

schools of nursing in increasing the number of nursing students and 

faculty and in program enhancement and infrastructure modernization, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 8 (legislative day, FEBRUARY 7), 2024 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. WELCH, Ms. SMITH, Mr. KING, Mr. BOOKER, 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. HIRONO, and 

Mr. PADILLA) 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 grants 

to support schools of nursing in increasing the number 

of nursing students and faculty and in program enhancement and infrastructure modernization, 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 ‘‘Future Advancement 

5 of Academic Nursing Act’’ or the ‘‘FAAN Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SUPPORT FOR NURSING EDUCATION AND THE FU2 TURE NURSING WORKFORCE. 

3 Part D of title VIII of the Public Health Service Act 

4 (42 U.S.C. 296p et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 832. NURSING EDUCATION ENHANCEMENT AND MOD7 ERNIZATION GRANTS IN UNDERSERVED 

8 AREAS. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 

10 the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services 

11 Administration, may award grants to schools of nursing 

12 for— 

13 ‘‘(1) increasing the number of faculty and stu14 dents at such schools in order to address nursing 

15 workforce shortages; 

16 ‘‘(2) expanding the capacity of such schools to 

17 enhance the preparedness of the United States for, 

18 and the ability of the United States to address and 

19 quickly respond to, public health emergencies de20 clared under section 319 and pandemics that are not 

21 otherwise declared as such emergencies; or 

22 ‘‘(3) the enhancement and modernization of 

23 nursing education programs. 

24 ‘‘(b) PRIORITY.—In selecting grant recipients under 

25 this section, the Secretary shall give priority to schools of 

26 nursing that— 


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1 ‘‘(1) are located in, or prepare students to prac2 tice in, a medically underserved area (as defined in 

3 section 330I(a)); 

4 ‘‘(2) are located in, or prepare students to prac5 tice in, a health professional shortage area as de6 fined under section 332(a); 

7 ‘‘(3) are institutions of higher education listed 

8 under section 371(a) of the Higher Education Act of 

9 1965; or 

10 ‘‘(4) are located in, or prepare students to prac11 tice in, a rural area or a noncontiguous State or ter12 ritory of the United States. 

13 ‘‘(c) CONSIDERATION.—In awarding grants under 

14 this section, the Secretary, to the extent practicable, may 

15 ensure equitable distribution of awards among the geo16 graphic regions of the United States. 

17 ‘‘(d) USE OF FUNDS.—A school of nursing that re18 ceives a grant under this section shall use the funds 

19 awarded through such grant for activities that include— 

20 ‘‘(1) enhancing enrollment and retention of stu21 dents at such school, with a priority for students 

22 from disadvantaged backgrounds (including racial or 

23 ethnic groups underrepresented in the nursing work24 force), individuals from rural and underserved areas, 

25 low-income individuals, and first generation college 


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1 students (as defined in section 402A(h)(3) of the 

2 Higher Education Act of 1965), including through 

3 mentorship programs, providing tools and program4 ming for underrepresented students, and addressing 

5 other student needs; 

6 ‘‘(2) retaining current faculty, and hiring new 

7 faculty, with an emphasis on faculty from racial or 

8 ethnic groups who are underrepresented in the nurs9 ing workforce; 

10 ‘‘(3) partnering with a health care facility, 

11 nurse-managed health clinic, community health cen12 ter, or other facility that provides health care in 

13 order to provide educational opportunities for the 

14 purpose of establishing or expanding clinical edu15 cation; 

16 ‘‘(4) modernizing infrastructure at such school, 

17 including audiovisual or other equipment, simulation 

18 and augmented reality resources, telehealth tech19 nologies, and virtual and physical laboratories; 

20 ‘‘(5) creating, supporting, or modernizing edu21 cational programs and curriculum at such school; 

22 ‘‘(6) enhancing and expanding nursing pro23 grams that prepare nurse researchers and scientists; 

24 ‘‘(7) establishing nurse-led intradisciplinary and 

25 interprofessional educational partnerships; or 


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1 ‘‘(8) other activities that the Secretary deter2 mines further the development, improvement, and 

3 expansion of schools of nursing. 

4 ‘‘(e) REPORTS FROM ENTITIES.—Each school of 

5 nursing awarded a grant under this section shall submit 

6 an annual report to the Secretary on the activities con7 ducted under such grant, and other information as the 

8 Secretary may require. 

9 ‘‘(f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 5 years 

10 after the date of the enactment of this section, the Sec11 retary shall submit to the Committee on Health, Edu12 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Com13 mittee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep14 resentatives a report that provides a summary of the ac15 tivities and outcomes associated with grants made under 

16 this section. Such report shall include— 

17 ‘‘(1) a list of schools of nursing receiving grants 

18 under this section, including the primary geographic 

19 location of any school of nursing that was improved 

20 or expanded through such a grant; 

21 ‘‘(2) the total number of students who are en22 rolled at or who have graduated from any school of 

23 nursing that was improved or expanded through a 

24 grant under this section, which such statistic shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) to the extent such information is 

2 available, be deidentified and disaggregated by 

3 race, ethnicity, age, sex, geographic region, dis4 ability status, and other relevant factors; and 

5 ‘‘(B) include an indication of the number 

6 of such students who are from racial or ethnic 

7 groups underrepresented in the nursing work8 force, such students who are from rural or un9 derserved areas, such students who are low-in10 come students, and such students who are first 

11 generation college students (as defined in sec12 tion 402A(h)(3) of the Higher Education Act of 

13 1965); 

14 ‘‘(3) to the extent such information is avail15 able— 

16 ‘‘(A) the effects of the grants awarded 

17 under this section on— 

18 ‘‘(i) retaining and hiring of faculty, 

19 including any increase in diverse faculty; 

20 ‘‘(ii) the number of clinical education 

21 partnerships; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) the modernization of nursing 

23 education infrastructure; and 

24 ‘‘(B) other ways this section helps to ad25 dress nursing workforce shortages and quickly 


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1 respond to public health emergencies declared 

2 under section 319 and pandemics that are not 

3 otherwise declared as such emergencies; 

4 ‘‘(4) recommendations for improving the grants 

5 awarded under this section; and 

6 ‘‘(5) any other considerations as the Secretary 

7 determines appropriate. 

8 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To 

9 carry out this section, there is authorized to be appro10 priated $1,000,000,000 to remain available until ex11 pended.’’. 

12 SEC. 3. STRENGTHENING NURSE EDUCATION. 

13 The heading of part D of title VIII of the Public 

14 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296p et seq.) is amended 

15 by striking ‘‘BASIC’’. 

Æ 


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