II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3588 

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

increase the number of nursing faculty and students, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 28, 2006 

Mr. DURBIN (for himself and Ms. MIKULSKI) 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 capitation grants to increase the number of nursing faculty 

and students, 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 ‘‘Nurse Education, Ex5 pansion, and Development Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) While the Nurse Reinvestment Act (Public 

9 Law 107–205) helped to increase applications to 


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1 schools of nursing by 175 percent, schools of nursing 

2 have been unable to accommodate the influx of in3 terested students because they have an insufficient 

4 number of nurse educators. It is estimated that— 

5 (A) in the 2005–2006 school year— 

6 (i) 66 percent of schools of nursing 

7 had both 1 to 16 vacant faculty positions 

8 and needed additional faculty; and 

9 (ii) an additional 15.7 percent of 

10 schools of nursing needed additional fac11 ulty, but lacked the resources needed to 

12 add more positions; and 

13 (B) 41,683 eligible candidates were denied 

14 admission to schools of nursing in 2005, pri15 marily due to an insufficient number of faculty 

16 members. 

17 (2) A growing number of nurses with doctoral 

18 degrees are choosing careers outside of education. 

19 Over the last few years, there has been a 12 percent 

20 increase in doctoral nursing graduates seeking em21 ployment outside the education profession. 

22 (3) The average age of nurse faculty at retire23 ment is 62.5 years. With the average age of 

24 doctorally-prepared professors currently at 57.5 


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1 years, a wave of retirements is expected within the 

2 next 10 years. 

3 (4) Master’s and doctoral programs in nursing 

4 are not producing a large enough pool of potential 

5 nurse educators to meet the projected demand for 

6 nurses over the next 10 years. While graduations 

7 from master’s and doctoral programs in nursing rose 

8 by 10.5 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively, in the 

9 2005–2006 school year, projections still demonstrate 

10 a shortage of nurse faculty. Given current trends, 

11 there will be at least 2,616 unfilled faculty positions 

12 in 2012. 

13 (5) According to the November 2005 Monthly 

14 Labor Review from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 

15 more than 1,200,000 new and replacement nurses 

16 will be needed by 2014. 

17 SEC. 3. CAPITATION GRANTS TO INCREASE THE NUMBER 

18 OF NURSING FACULTY AND STUDENTS. 

19 (a) GRANTS.—Part D of title VIII of the Public 

20 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296p) is amended by add21 ing at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 832. CAPITATION GRANTS. 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose described in 

24 subsection (b), the Secretary, acting through the Health 

25 Resources and Services Administration, shall award a 


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1 grant each fiscal year in an amount determined in accord2 ance with subsection (c) to each eligible school of nursing 

3 that submits an application in accordance with this sec4 tion. 

5 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—A funding agreement for a grant 

6 under this section is that the eligible school of nursing 

7 involved will expend the grant to increase the number of 

8 nursing faculty and students at the school, including by 

9 hiring new faculty, retaining current faculty, purchasing 

10 educational equipment and audiovisual laboratories, en11 hancing clinical laboratories, repairing and expanding in12 frastructure, or recruiting students. 

13 ‘‘(c) GRANT COMPUTATION.— 

14 ‘‘(1) AMOUNT PER STUDENT.—Subject to para15 graph (2), the amount of a grant to an eligible 

16 school of nursing under this section for a fiscal year 

17 shall be the total of the following, as determined by 

18 the Secretary: 

19 ‘‘(A) Not to exceed $1,800 for each full20 time or part-time student who is enrolled at the 

21 school in a graduate program in nursing that— 

22 ‘‘(i) leads to a master’s degree, a doc23 toral degree, or an equivalent degree; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) prepares individuals to serve as 

25 faculty through additional course work in 


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1 education and ensuring competency in an 

2 advanced practice area. 

3 ‘‘(B) Not to exceed $1,405 for each full4 time or part-time student who— 

5 ‘‘(i) is enrolled at the school in a pro6 gram in nursing leading to a bachelor of 

7 science degree, a bachelor of nursing de8 gree, a graduate degree in nursing if such 

9 program does not meet the requirements of 

10 subparagraph (A), or an equivalent degree; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(ii) has not more than 3 years of 

13 academic credits remaining in the pro14 gram. 

15 ‘‘(C) Not to exceed $966 for each full-time 

16 or part-time student who is enrolled at the 

17 school in a program in nursing leading to an 

18 associate degree in nursing or an equivalent de19 gree. 

20 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—In calculating the amount 

21 of a grant to a school under paragraph (1), the Sec22 retary may not make a payment with respect to a 

23 particular student— 

24 ‘‘(A) for more than 2 fiscal years in the 

25 case of a student described in paragraph (1)(A) 


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1 who is enrolled in a graduate program in nurs2 ing leading to a master’s degree or an equiva3 lent degree; 

4 ‘‘(B) for more than 4 fiscal years in the 

5 case of a student described in paragraph (1)(A) 

6 who is enrolled in a graduate program in nurs7 ing leading to a doctoral degree or an equiva8 lent degree; 

9 ‘‘(C) for more than 3 fiscal years in the 

10 case of a student described in paragraph 

11 (1)(B); or 

12 ‘‘(D) for more than 2 fiscal years in the 

13 case of a student described in paragraph 

14 (1)(C). 

15 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBILITY.—For purposes of this section, the 

16 term ‘eligible school of nursing’ means a school of nursing 

17 that— 

18 ‘‘(1) is accredited by a nursing accrediting 

19 agency recognized by the Secretary of Education; 

20 ‘‘(2) has a passage rate on the National Council 

21 Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses of not 

22 less than 80 percent for each of the 3 school years 

23 preceding submission of the grant application; and 

24 ‘‘(3) has a graduation rate (based on the num25 ber of students in a class who graduate relative to, 


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1 for a baccalaureate program, the number of students 

2 who were enrolled in the class at the beginning of 

3 junior year or, for an associate degree program, the 

4 number of students who were enrolled in the class 

5 at the end of the first year) of not less than 80 per6 cent for each of the 3 school years preceding submis7 sion of the grant application. 

8 ‘‘(e) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary may award a 

9 grant under this section to an eligible school of nursing 

10 only if the school gives assurances satisfactory to the Sec11 retary that, for each school year for which the grant is 

12 awarded, the school will comply with the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) The school will maintain a passage rate on 

14 the National Council Licensure Examination for 

15 Registered Nurses of not less than 80 percent. 

16 ‘‘(2) The school will maintain a graduation rate 

17 (as described in subsection (d)(3)) of not less than 

18 80 percent. 

19 ‘‘(3)(A) Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C), 

20 the first-year enrollment of full-time nursing stu21 dents in the school will exceed such enrollment for 

22 the preceding school year by 5 percent or 5 students, 

23 whichever is greater. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Subparagraph (A) does not apply to the 

2 first school year for which a school receives a grant 

3 under this section. 

4 ‘‘(4) Not later than 1 year after receipt of the 

5 grant, the school will formulate and implement a 

6 plan to accomplish at least 2 of the following: 

7 ‘‘(A) Establishing or significantly expand8 ing an accelerated baccalaureate degree nursing 

9 program designed to graduate new nurses in 12 

10 to 18 months. 

11 ‘‘(B) Establishing cooperative intradisci12 plinary education among schools of nursing 

13 with a view toward shared use of technological 

14 resources, including information technology. 

15 ‘‘(C) Establishing cooperative interdiscipli16 nary training between schools of nursing and 

17 schools of allied health, medicine, dentistry, os18 teopathy, optometry, podiatry, pharmacy, public 

19 health, or veterinary medicine, including train20 ing for the use of the interdisciplinary team ap21 proach to the delivery of health services. 

22 ‘‘(D) Integrating core competencies on evi23 dence-based practice, quality improvements, and 

24 patient-centered care. 


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1 ‘‘(E) Increasing admissions, enrollment, 

2 and retention of qualified individuals who are 

3 financially disadvantaged. 

4 ‘‘(F) Increasing enrollment of minority and 

5 diverse student populations. 

6 ‘‘(G) Increasing enrollment of new grad7 uate baccalaureate nursing students in graduate 

8 programs that educate nurse faculty members. 

9 ‘‘(H) Developing post-baccalaureate resi10 dency programs to prepare nurses for practice 

11 in specialty areas where nursing shortages are 

12 most severe. 

13 ‘‘(I) Increasing integration of geriatric con14 tent into the core curriculum. 

15 ‘‘(J) Partnering with economically dis16 advantaged communities to provide nursing 

17 education. 

18 ‘‘(K) Expanding the ability of nurse man19 aged health centers to provide clinical education 

20 training sites to nursing students. 

21 ‘‘(5) The school will submit an annual report to 

22 the Secretary that includes updated information on 

23 the school with respect to student enrollment, stu24 dent retention, graduation rates, passage rates on 

25 the National Council Licensure Examination for 


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1 Registered Nurses, the number of graduates em2 ployed as nursing faculty or nursing care providers 

3 within 12 months of graduation, and the number of 

4 students who are accepted into graduate programs 

5 for further nursing education. 

6 ‘‘(6) The school will allow the Secretary to 

7 make on-site inspections, and will comply with the 

8 Secretary’s requests for information, to determine 

9 the extent to which the school is complying with the 

10 requirements of this section. 

11 ‘‘(f) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary shall 

12 evaluate the results of grants under this section and sub13 mit to the Congress— 

14 ‘‘(1) not later than 18 months after the date of 

15 the enactment of this section, an interim report on 

16 such results; and 

17 ‘‘(2) not later than the end of fiscal year 2009, 

18 a final report on such results. 

19 ‘‘(g) APPLICATION.—To seek a grant under this sec20 tion, a school nursing shall submit an application to the 

21 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing 

22 such information and assurances as the Secretary may re23 quire. 

24 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For the costs of carrying 

2 out this section (except the costs described in para3 graph (2)), there are authorized to be appropriated 

4 $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2007, $85,000,000 for 

5 fiscal year 2008, and $95,000,000 for fiscal year 

6 2009. 

7 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—For the costs of 

8 administering this section, including the costs of 

9 evaluating the results of grants and submitting re10 ports to the Congress, there are authorized to be ap11 propriated such sums as may be necessary for each 

12 of fiscal years 2007, 2008, and 2009.’’. 

13 (b) GAO STUDY.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

15 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Comp16 troller General of the United States shall conduct a 

17 study and submit a report to the Congress on ways 

18 to increase participation in the nurse faculty profes19 sion. 

20 (2) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report re21 quired by paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

22 (A) A discussion of the master’s degree 

23 and doctoral degree programs that are success24 ful in placing graduates as faculty in schools of 

25 nursing. 


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1 (B) An examination of compensation dis2 parities throughout the nursing profession and 

3 compensation disparities between higher edu4 cation instructional faculty generally and higher 

5 education instructional nursing faculty. 

Æ 


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