I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4231

To provide for a pilot program in the Department of Veterans Affairs to 

improve recruitment and retention of nurses, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 28, 2004

Mr. SIMMONS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL

To provide for a pilot program in the Department of Veterans Affairs to improve recruitment and retention of 

nurses, 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 ‘‘Department of Vet5 erans Affairs Nurse Recruitment and Retention Act of 

6 2004’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM TO STUDY INNOVATIVE RECRUIT2 MENT TOOLS TO ADDRESS NURSING SHORT3 AGES AT DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF4 FAIRS HEALTH-CARE FACILITIES. 

5 (a) PILOT PROGRAM.—(1) Not later than 90 days 

6 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

7 of Veterans Affairs shall designate a health-care service 

8 region, or a section within such a region, in which health 

9 care facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs are 

10 adversely affected by a shortage of qualified nurses. 

11 (2) The Secretary shall conduct a pilot program in 

12 the region or section designated under paragraph (1) to 

13 determine the effectiveness of the use of innovative 

14 human-capital tools and techniques in the recruitment of 

15 qualified nurses for positions at Department health care 

16 facilities and for the retention of nurses at such facilities. 

17 In carrying out the pilot program, the Secretary shall 

18 enter into a contract with a private-sector entity for serv19 ices under the pilot program for recruitment of qualified 

20 nurses. 

21 (b) PRIVATE-SECTOR RECRUITMENT PRACTICES.—

22 For purposes of the pilot program under this section, the 

23 Secretary shall identify and use recruitment practices that 

24 have proven effective for placing qualified individuals in 

25 positions that are difficult to fill due to shortages of quali26 fied individuals or other factors. Recruitment practices to 
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1 be reviewed by the Secretary for use in the pilot program 

2 shall include—

3 (1) employer branding and interactive adver4 tising strategies; 

5 (2) internet technologies and automated staff6 ing systems; and 

7 (3) the use of recruitment, advertising, and 

8 communication agencies. 

9 (c) STREAMLINED HIRING PROCESS.—In carrying 

10 out the pilot program under this section, the Secretary 

11 shall, at health care facilities of the Department in the 

12 region or section in which the pilot program is conducted, 

13 revise procedures and systems for selecting and hiring 

14 qualified nurses to reduce the length of the hiring process. 

15 If the Secretary identifies measures to streamline and 

16 automate the hiring process that can only be implemented 

17 if authorized by law, the Secretary shall submit to the 

18 Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House 

19 of Representatives recommendations for such changes in 

20 law as may be necessary to enable such measure to be 

21 implemented. 

22 (d) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the date 

23 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

24 to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and 

25 House of Representatives a report on the extent to which 
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1 the pilot program achieved the goal of improving the re2 cruitment and retention of nurses in Department of Vet3 erans Affairs health care facilities. 

4 SEC. 3. ALTERNATE WORK SCHEDULES FOR NURSES. 

5 (a) ENHANCED SHIFT FLEXIBILITY.—Chapter 74 of 

6 title 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

7 section 7456 the following new section: 

8 ‘‘§ 7456a. Alternate work schedules 

9 ‘‘(a) APPLICABILITY.—This section applies to reg10 istered nurses appointed under this chapter. 

11 ‘‘(b) 36/40 WORK SCHEDULE.—(1) Subject to para12 graph (2), if the Secretary determines it to be necessary 

13 in order to obtain or retain the services of registered 

14 nurses at a Department health-care facility, the Secretary 

15 may provide, in the case of registered nurses employed at 

16 that facility, that such a nurse who works three regularly 

17 scheduled 12-hour tours of duty within a workweek shall 

18 be considered for all purposes (except computation of full19 time equivalent employees for the purposes of determining 

20 compliance with personnel ceilings) to have worked a full 

21 40-hour basic workweek. Such a schedule may be referred 

22 to as a ‘36/40 work schedule’. 

23 ‘‘(2)(A) Basic and additional pay for a registered 

24 nurse who is considered under paragraph (1) to have 
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1 worked a full 40-hour basic workweek is subject to sub2 paragraphs (B) and (C). 

3 ‘‘(B) The hourly rate of basic pay for such a nurse 

4 for service performed as part of a regularly scheduled 36-

5 hour tour of duty within the workweek shall be derived 

6 by dividing the nurse’s annual rate of basic pay by 1,872. 

7 ‘‘(C)(i) Such a nurse who performs a period of service 

8 in excess of such nurse’s regularly scheduled 36-hour tour 

9 of duty within a workweek is entitled to overtime pay 

10 under section 7453(e) of this title, or other applicable law, 

11 for officially ordered or approved service performed in ex12 cess of—

13 ‘‘(I) eight hours on a day other than a day on 

14 which such nurse’s regularly scheduled 12-hour tour 

15 falls; 

16 ‘‘(II) 12 hours for any day included in the regu17 larly scheduled 36-hour tour of duty; and 

18 ‘‘(III) 40 hours during an administrative work19 week. 

20 ‘‘(ii) Except as provided in clause (i), a registered 

21 nurse to whom this subsection is applicable is not entitled 

22 to additional pay under section 7453 of this title, or other 

23 applicable law, for any period included in a regularly 

24 scheduled 12-hour tour of duty. 
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1 ‘‘(3) A nurse who works a 36/40 work schedule de2 scribed in this subsection who is absent on approved sick 

3 leave or annual leave during a regularly scheduled 12-hour 

4 tour of duty shall be charged for such leave at a rate of 

5 ten hours of leave for nine hours of absence. 

6 ‘‘(c) 7/7 WORK SCHEDULE.—(1) Subject to para7 graph (2), if the Secretary determines it to be necessary 

8 in order to obtain or retain the services of registered 

9 nurses at a Department health-care facility, the Secretary 

10 may provide, in the case of registered nurses employed at 

11 such facility, that such a nurse who works seven regularly 

12 scheduled 10-hour tours of duty, with seven days off duty, 

13 within a two-week pay period, shall be considered for all 

14 purposes (except computation of full-time equivalent em15 ployees for the purposes of determining compliance with 

16 personnel ceilings) to have worked a full 80 hours for the 

17 pay period. Such a schedule may be referred to as a ‘7/

18 7 work schedule’. 

19 ‘‘(2)(A) Basic and additional pay for a registered 

20 nurse who is considered under paragraph (1) to have 

21 worked a full 80-hour pay period is subject to subpara22 graphs (B) and (C). 

23 ‘‘(B) The hourly rate of basic pay for such a nurse 

24 for service performed as part of a regularly scheduled 70-
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1 hour tour of duty within the pay period shall be derived 

2 by dividing the nurse’s annual rate of basic pay by 1,820. 

3 ‘‘(C)(i) Such a nurse who performs a period of service 

4 in excess of such nurse’s regularly scheduled 70-hour tour 

5 of duty within a pay period is entitled to overtime pay 

6 under section 7453(e) of this title, or other applicable law, 

7 for officially ordered or approved service performed in ex8 cess of—

9 ‘‘(I) eight hours on a day other than a day on 

10 which such nurse’s regularly scheduled 10-hour tour 

11 falls; 

12 ‘‘(II) 10 hours for any day included in the regu13 larly scheduled 70-hour tour of duty; and 

14 ‘‘(III) 80 hours during a pay period. 

15 ‘‘(ii) Except as provided in subparagraph (i), a reg16 istered nurse to whom this subsection is applicable is not 

17 entitled to additional pay under section 7453 of this title, 

18 or other applicable law, for any period included in a regu19 larly scheduled 10-hour tour of duty. 

20 ‘‘(3) A nurse who works a 7/7 work schedule de21 scribed in this subsection who is absent on approved sick 

22 leave or annual leave during a regularly scheduled 12-hour 

23 tour of duty shall be charged for such leave at a rate of 

24 eight hours of leave for seven hours of absence. 
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1 ‘‘(d) 9-MONTH WORK SCHEDULE.—The Secretary 

2 may authorize a registered nurse appointed under section 

3 7405 of this title, with the nurse’s written consent, to 

4 work full-time for nine months with three months off duty, 

5 within a fiscal year, and be paid at 75 percent of the full6 time rate for such nurse’s grade for each pay period of 

7 that fiscal year. A nurse working on such a schedule for 

any fiscal year shall be considered a 3 8 ⁄4 full-time equivalent 

9 employee for that fiscal year in computing full-time equiv10 alent employees for the purposes of determining compli11 ance with personnel ceilings. Service on such a schedule 

12 shall be considered to be part-time service for purposes 

13 of computing benefits under chapters 83 and 84 of title 

14 5. 

15 ‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 

16 regulations for the implementation of this section.’’. 

17 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

18 at the beginning of chapter 74 of such title is amended 

19 by inserting after the item relating to section 7456 the 

20 following new item:

‘‘7456a. Alternate work schedules.’’.

21 SEC. 4. APPOINTMENT OF NURSES WHO DO NOT HAVE BAC22 CALAUREATE DEGREES. 

23 Section 7403 of title 38, United States Code, is 

24 amended by adding at the end the following new sub25 section: 
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1 ‘‘(h) In a case in which a registered nurse applying 

2 for an appointment under this chapter as a registered 

3 nurse has presented the qualifications established under 

4 subsection (a) for such an appointment, the lack of a bac5 calaureate degree in nursing shall not be a bar to appoint6 ment, and in such a case the registered nurse shall not 

7 be denied appointment on that basis.’’. 

8 SEC. 5. TECHNICAL CORRECTION TO LISTING OF CERTAIN 

9 HYBRID POSITIONS IN VETERANS HEALTH 

10 ADMINISTRATION. 

11 Section 7401(3) of title 38, United States Code, is 

12 amended—

13 (1) by striking ‘‘and dental technologists’’ and 

14 inserting ‘‘technologists, dental hygienists, dental as15 sistants,’’; and 

16 (2) by striking ‘‘technicians, therapeutic 

17 radiologic technicians, and social workers’’ and in18 serting ‘‘technologists, therapeutic radiologic tech19 nologists, social workers, blind rehabilitation special20 ists, and blind rehabilitation outpatient specialists’’.

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