III 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 522 

Recognizing National Nurses Week. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 12, 2010 

Mr. BURRIS (for himself, Ms. SNOWE, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. 

DURBIN, and Mr. JOHANNS) submitted the following resolution; which 

was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing National Nurses Week. 

Whereas since 1990, National Nurses Week is celebrated annually from May 6, which is known as National Recognition Day for Nurses, through May 12, which is the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing; 

Whereas National Nurses Week is a time of year to reflect 

on the important contributions that nurses make to provide safe, high-quality health care; 

Whereas nurses are known to be patient advocates, acting 

fearlessly to protect the lives of those under their care; 

Whereas nurses represent the largest single component of the 

health care profession with 3,100,000 jobs; 


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•SRES 522 ATS 

Whereas nurses are experienced researchers, and their work 

encompasses a wide scope of scientific inquiry, including 

clinical research, health systems and outcomes research, 

and nursing education research; 

Whereas nurses are well positioned to provide leadership to 

eliminate health care disparities that exist in the United 

States; 

Whereas nurses help inform and educate the public to improve the practice of all nurses and, more importantly, 

the health and safety of the patients they care for; 

Whereas survey data shows that enrollments in entry-level 

baccalaureate programs in nursing rose by 3.6 percent in 

2009, and though this marks the ninth consecutive year 

of enrollment growth, the annual increase in student capacity in 4-year nursing programs has declined sharply 

since 2003 when enrollment was up by 16.6 percent; 

Whereas nursing programs in the United States were forced 

to reject almost 119,000 qualified applicants according to 

the most recent survey of all prelicensure nursing programs; 

Whereas according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 

employment of registered nurses is expected to grow by 

22 percent from 2008 to 2018, which is a much faster 

rate of growth than the average rate of growth for all occupations; 

Whereas according to survey data, enrollment in doctoral 

nursing programs increased by more than 20 percent this 

year, signaling strong interest among students in careers 

as nursing scientists, faculty, primary care providers, and 

specialists; 


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•SRES 522 ATS 

Whereas expanding capacity in baccalaureate and graduate 

programs is critical to sustaining a healthy nursing workforce and providing patients with the best care possible; 

Whereas the nationwide nursing shortage has caused dedicated nurses to work longer hours and care for more 

acutely ill patients; 

Whereas nurse educators work on average more than 57 

hours per week in order to ensure that each and every 

new registered nurse receives an excellent education, advancing excellence among the next generation of nurses; 

Whereas nurses inform legislators on the education, retention, recruitment, and practice of all nurses and, more 

importantly, the health and safety of the patients they 

care for; and 

Whereas increased Federal and State support is needed to 

enhance existing programs and create new programs to 

educate nursing students at all levels, to increase the 

number of faculty members to educate nursing students, 

to create clinical sites and have appropriately prepared 

nurses teach and train at those sites, to create educational opportunities to retain nurses in the profession, 

and to educate and train more nurse research scientists 

who can discover new nursing: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes National Nurses Week; 

3 (2) supports the goals and ideals of National 

4 Nurses Week; 

5 (3) acknowledges the importance of quality 

6 higher education in nursing, including baccalaureate 


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1 and graduate programs, to meet the needs of one of 

2 the fastest growing labor fields in the Nation; and 

3 (4) supports the nurse capacity initiatives for 

4 institutions of higher education included in the 

5 Higher Education Opportunity Act. 

Æ 


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