IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1261 
Recognizing National Nurses Week. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 15, 2010 
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas (for herself, Mrs. CAPPS, Mrs. 
MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. LATOURETTE, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mrs. 
MALONEY, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. CONYERS, Ms. RICHARD-
SON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. SPRATT, Mr. MCGOV-
ERN, Mr. LATHAM, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. MCCOLLUM, 
Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. ROSS, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. 
KENNEDY, and Ms. MARKEY of Colorado) submitted the following resolu-
tion; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing National Nurses Week. 
Whereas since 1990, National Nurses Week is celebrated an-
nually from May 6, also known as National Recognition 
Day for Nurses, through May 12, the birthday of Flor-
ence 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 pro-
vide safe, high-quality health care; 
Whereas nurses are known to be patient advocates, acting 
fearlessly to protect the lives of those under their care; 
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Whereas nurses represent the largest single component of the 
health care profession with 3,100,000 jobs; 
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 best positioned to provide leadership to 
eliminate health care disparities that exist in the United 
States; 
Whereas nurses help inform and educate the public to im-
prove the practice of all nurses and, more importantly, 
the health and safety of the patients they care for; 
Whereas the American Association of Colleges of Nursing 
(AACN) released final survey data show 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 in-
crease in student capacity in 4-year nursing programs 
has declined sharply since 2003 when enrollment was up 
by 16.6 percent; 
Whereas United States nursing programs were forced to re-
ject almost 119,000 qualified applications to nursing pro-
grams according to the National League for Nursing’s 
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, much faster than the av-
erage for all occupations; 
Whereas according to new survey data by the AACN, enroll-
ment in doctoral nursing programs increased by more 
than 20 percent this year, signaling strong interest 
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among students in careers as nursing scientists, faculty, 
primary care providers, and specialists; 
Whereas according to the AACN, expanding capacity in bac-
calaureate and graduate programs is critical to sus-
taining a healthy nursing workforce and providing pa-
tients with the best care possible; 
Whereas the nationwide nursing shortage has caused dedi-
cated 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, ad-
vancing excellence among the next generation of nurses; 
Whereas nurses are strong allies to Congress as they help in-
form, educate, and work closely with legislators to im-
prove 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 the appropriately pre-
pared nurses to teach and train at those sites, to create 
educational opportunities to retain nurses in the profes-
sion, and to educate and train more nurse research sci-
entists who can discover new nursing: Now, therefore, be 
it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
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(1) supports the goals and ideals of National 
Nurses Week, as founded by the American Nurses 
Association; 
(2) acknowledges the importance of quality 
higher education in nursing, including baccalaureate 
and graduate programs, to meet the needs of one of 
the Nation’s fastest growing labor fields; and 
(3) supports the nurse capacity initiatives for 
institutions of higher education included in the 
Higher Education Opportunity Act. 
Æ 
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