I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 920

To amend the Public Health Service Act to promote careers in nursing 

and diversity in the nursing workforce. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 26, 2003

Mr. BACA (for himself, Ms. WOOLSEY, and Mr. MCNULTY) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL

To amend the Public Health Service Act to promote careers 

in nursing and diversity in the nursing workforce.

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 ‘‘Recruitment and Di5 versity in Nursing Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) The United States is experiencing a nursing 

9 shortage due to declining enrollment rates in edu10 cation and nursing programs. The Federal Govern-
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1 ment has a substantial interest in addressing the 

2 nursing shortage, because the shortage affects the 

3 overall health and safety of patients receiving health 

4 care. 

5 (2) The average age of nurses in the United 

6 States is 43.3. Unless the Congress takes affirmative 

7 measures, the shortage will only continue to worsen 

8 as nurses retire and leave the profession. 

9 (3) Increasing access to nursing education for 

10 nontraditional students will result in more people en11 tering the profession and thus combat the current 

12 nursing shortage and help to reduce the average age 

13 of nurses. 

14 (4) Increasing the awareness of elementary and 

15 secondary school students about careers in nursing, 

16 through the use of nonprofit organizations, will as17 sist in recruitment of nontraditional nursing stu18 dents and thus combat the current nursing shortage 

19 and help to reduce the average age of nurses. 

20 SEC. 3. SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM FOR NONTRADITIONAL 

21 NURSING STUDENTS. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 846 of the Public 

23 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 297n) is amended—
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1 (1) by redesignating subsections (e), (f), (g), 

2 (h), and (i) as subsections (f), (g), (h), (i), and (j), 

3 respectively; and 

4 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(e) SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall (for 

8 fiscal years 2004 and 2005) and may (for fiscal 

9 years thereafter) carry out a program of entering 

10 into contracts with nontraditional nursing students 

11 under which such students agree to serve as nurses 

12 for a period of not less than 2 years at a health care 

13 facility with a critical shortage of nurses, in consid14 eration of the Federal Government agreeing to pro15 vide to the students scholarships for attendance at 

16 accredited schools of nursing. 

17 ‘‘(2) NONTRADITIONAL NURSING STUDENT.—In 

18 this subsection, the term ‘nontraditional nursing stu19 dent’ means an individual who—

20 ‘‘(A) belongs to a group that is underrep21 resented among registered nurses, including so22 cially disadvantaged individuals and males; and 

23 ‘‘(B) is enrolled or accepted for enrollment 

24 as a full-time or part-time student in an accred25 ited school of nursing. 
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1 ‘‘(3) ADVANCED DEGREE PROGRAMS.—The Sec2 retary shall ensure that not more than 25 percent of 

3 the contracts entered into under this subsection are 

4 for scholarships for training in advanced degree pro5 grams (as that term is used in section 811). 

6 ‘‘(4) SERVICE REQUIREMENT.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

8 not enter into a contract with a nontraditional 

9 nursing student under this subsection unless 

10 the student agrees to serve as a nurse at a 

11 health care facility with a critical shortage of 

12 nurses for a period of full-time service of not 

13 less than 2 years, or for a period of part-time 

14 service in accordance with subparagraph (B). 

15 ‘‘(B) PART-TIME SERVICE.—A nontradi16 tional nursing student may complete the period 

17 of service described in subparagraph (A) on a 

18 part-time basis if the student has a written 

19 agreement that—

20 ‘‘(i) is entered into by the facility and 

21 the student and is approved by the Sec22 retary; and

23 ‘‘(ii) provides that the period of obli24 gated service will be extended so that the 

25 aggregate amount of service performed will 
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1 equal the amount of service that would be 

2 performed through a period of full-time 

3 service of not less than 2 years. 

4 ‘‘(5) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN PROVI5 SIONS.—The provisions of subpart III of part D of 

6 title III shall, except as inconsistent with this sec7 tion, apply to the program established in paragraph 

8 (1) in the same manner and to the same extent as 

9 such provisions apply to the National Health Service 

10 Corps Scholarship Program established in such sub11 part.’’. 

12 (b) PREFERENCE BASED ON FINANCIAL NEED.—

13 Section 846(f) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

14 297n) (as redesignated by subsection (a)(1)) is amended 

15 by striking ‘‘under subsection (a) or (d)’’ and inserting 

16 ‘‘under subsections (a), (d), and (e)’’. 

17 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Sub18 section (j) of section 846 of the Public Health Service Act 

19 (42 U.S.C. 297n) (as redesignated by subsection (a)(1)) 

20 is amended—

21 (1) in paragraph (1)—

22 (A) by striking ‘‘For the purpose of’’ and 

23 inserting the following: 

24 ‘‘(A) For the purpose of’’; and 

25 (B) by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(B) For the purpose of carrying out sub2 section (e), there are authorized to be appro3 priated such sums as may be necessary for each 

4 of fiscal years 2004 through 2008, except that 

5 funds may be appropriated for such purpose for 

6 a fiscal year only if the amount of such funds 

7 will be sufficient for the Secretary to enter into 

8 agreements that year under subsection (e) with 

9 not less than 250 nontraditional nursing stu10 dents.’’; and 

11 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘amounts ap12 propriated under paragraph (1)’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘amounts appropriated under paragraph (1)(A)’’. 

14 SEC. 4. PROMOTING AND RECRUITING NURSES THROUGH 

15 ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL INI16 TIATIVES. 

17 Part H of title VIII of the Public Health Service Act 

18 (42 U.S.C. 297w et seq.) is amended—

19 (1) by amending the part heading to read as 

20 follows: 

21 ‘‘PART H—PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS 

22 AND RECRUITING’’; 

23 and 

24 (2) by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘SEC. 853. PROMOTING AND RECRUITING NURSES 

2 THROUGH ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY 

3 SCHOOL INITIATIVES. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall (for fiscal 

5 years 2004 and 2005) and may (for fiscal years there6 after) make grants to eligible entities to carry out nursing 

7 awareness and recruitment programs in elementary 

8 schools and secondary schools. 

9 ‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary may not make 

10 a grant to an applicant under this subsection unless the 

11 applicant agrees—

12 ‘‘(1) to use the grant to promote careers in 

13 nursing by carrying out nursing awareness and re14 cruitment programs in elementary and secondary 

15 schools, of which at least 50 percent must have a 

16 high percentage of nontraditional students; and 

17 ‘‘(2) in carrying out such programs, to encour18 age increasing the diversity of the nursing profession 

19 by presenting a diverse image of nursing inclusive of 

20 nontraditional students. 

21 ‘‘(c) DURATION OF GRANT.—The Secretary may not 

22 make a grant under this section for a period of more than 

23 3 years. 

24 ‘‘(d) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

25 date of enactment of this section and annually thereafter, 

26 the Secretary shall submit to the Congress a report de-
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1 scribing the programs carried out with grants under this 

2 section, including the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) The number of grant recipients. 

4 ‘‘(2) The number of schools visited. 

5 ‘‘(3) The total amount in grants awarded. 

6 ‘‘(4) The educational institutions that received 

7 visits. 

8 ‘‘(5) To the extent that it can be determined, 

9 the number of students who have an increased inter10 est in nursing. 

11 ‘‘(6) The educational methods used by grant re12 cipients to encourage a diverse image of nursing. 

13 ‘‘(7) The demographics of the schools and stu14 dents participating in the nursing awareness pro15 grams. 

16 ‘‘(8) Not later than 10 years after the date of 

17 enactment of this section, the percentage and num18 ber of individuals from the visited schools entering 

19 nursing careers in comparison to such percentage 

20 and number before the visits. 

21 ‘‘(9) An evaluation of the overall costs and ben22 efits of the programs. 

23 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

24 ‘‘(1) The terms ‘elementary school’ and ‘sec25 ondary school’ have the meanings given to those 
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1 terms in section 9101 of the Elementary and Sec2 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

3 ‘‘(2) The term ‘eligible entity’ means any public 

4 or private nonprofit organization involved in nursing 

5 issues, any other public or private nonprofit organi6 zation approved by the Secretary, any school of 

7 nursing, any nursing center, any academic health 

8 center, and any State or local government. 

9 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

10 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

11 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 

12 2004 through 2008.’’.

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