I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1436
To amend the Public Health Service Act, titles XVIII and XIX of the
Social Security Act, and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect
to alleviating the nursing profession shortage, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 4, 2001
Mrs. CAPPS (for herself, Mrs. KELLY, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Ms.
EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. GILMAN, Ms.
HOOLEY of Oregon, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. TOWNS, Mr.
LANGEVIN, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. RUSH,
Mr. BALDACCI, Mr. FROST, Mr. POMEROY, Mr. MATSUI, Ms. SOLIS, Mr.
BARRETT, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. KIND, Mr. ABERCROMBIE,
Mr. GREEN of Texas, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. WYNN, and Mr. DINGELL) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy
and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means,
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act, titles XVIII and
XIX of the Social Security Act, and the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 with respect to alleviating the nursing
profession shortage, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nurse Reinvestment
Act’’.
TITLE I—AMENDMENTS TO
PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT
Subtitle A—Initiatives to Combat
Nursing Shortage and Strength-
en Nursing Workforce
SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF INITIATIVES.
Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act (42
U.S.C. 296 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘PART H—INITIATIVES TO COMBAT NURSING
SHORTAGES
‘‘SEC. 851. PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop and
issue public service announcements that shall advertise
and promote the nursing profession, highlight the advan-
tages and rewards of nursing, and encourage individuals
from diverse communities and backgrounds to enter the
nursing profession.
‘‘(b) METHOD.—The public service announcements
described in subsection (a) shall be broadcast in appro-
priate languages through appropriate media outlets, in-
cluding television or radio, in a manner intended to reach
as wide and diverse an audience as possible.
‘‘SEC. 852. STATE AND LOCAL PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCE-
MENTS.
‘‘(a) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award
grants to designated eligible entities to support State and
local advertising campaigns via appropriate media outlets
to promote the nursing profession, highlight the advan-
tages and rewards of nursing, and encourage individuals
from disadvantaged communities and backgrounds to
enter the nursing profession.
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
‘‘(1) DESIGNATED
ELIGIBLE
ENTITY.—The
term ‘designated eligible entity’ means an eligible
entity that is a professional, national, or State nurs-
ing association, State health care provider associa-
tion, school of nursing, or other eligible entity that
provides similar services or serves a like function.
‘‘(2) STATE HEALTH CARE PROVIDER ASSOCIA-
TION.—The term ‘State health care provider associa-
tion’ means a professional association of hospitals,
nursing homes, home health care agencies, hospices,
consortia of such associations, or other entities de-
termined by the Secretary to be appropriate for pur-
poses of this section.
‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—A designated eligible entity
that receives a grant under subsection (a) shall use funds
received through such grant to buy local television and
radio time, place advertisements in local newspapers, and
post information on billboards or on the Internet, in order
to—
‘‘(1) advertise and promote the nursing profes-
sion;
‘‘(2) promote nursing education programs;
‘‘(3) inform the public of public assistance re-
garding such education programs;
‘‘(4) highlight individuals in the community
that are presently practicing nursing in order to re-
cruit new nurses; and
‘‘(5) provide any other information to recruit
individuals for the nursing profession.
‘‘(d) METHOD.—The campaigns described in sub-
section (a) shall be broadcast in appropriate languages on
television or radio, or placed in newspapers as advertise-
ments, or posted on billboards or the Internet, in a man-
ner intended to reach as wide and diverse an audience as
possible.
‘‘SEC. 853. NURSE RECRUITMENT GRANT PROGRAM.
‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary shall
award grants to eligible entities to increase nursing edu-
cation opportunities.
‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives
a grant under subsection (a) shall use funds received from
such grant to—
‘‘(1) support outreach programs at elementary
and secondary schools that inform guidance coun-
selors and students of education opportunities re-
garding nursing;
‘‘(2) carry out special projects to increase nurs-
ing education opportunities for individuals who are
from disadvantaged backgrounds (including racial
and ethnic minorities underrepresented among reg-
istered nurses) by providing student scholarships or
stipends, pre-entry preparation, and retention activi-
ties;
‘‘(3) provide assistance to public and nonprofit
private educational institutions (including junior col-
leges and community colleges) to support remedial
education programs for nursing students who re-
quire assistance with math, science, English, and
medical terminology; and
‘‘(4) meet the costs of child care and transpor-
tation for individuals who are taking part in a nurs-
ing education program at any level.
‘‘SEC. 854. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING NURSING
PROFESSION.
‘‘For purposes of this part, the term ‘nursing profes-
sion’ includes the position of certified nursing assistant.
‘‘SEC. 855. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
‘‘For the purpose of carrying out this part, there is
authorized to be appropriated $20,000,000 for each of the
fiscal years 2002 through 2004.
‘‘PART I—INITIATIVES TO STRENGTHEN THE
NURSING WORKFORCE
‘‘SEC. 861. CAREER LADDER GRANT PROGRAM.
‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary shall
award grants to eligible entities to assist individuals in ob-
taining education required to enter the nursing profession
and advance within such profession.
‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives
a grant under subsection (a) shall use funds under such
grant to establish student scholarships or stipends for
nurse professionals, licensed practical nurses, certified
nurse assistants, and home health aids who enroll in entry
level nursing programs, advanced practice nursing degree
programs, RN/Master’s nursing degree programs, doctoral
nursing programs, public health nursing programs, nurse
educator programs, nurse administrator programs, long
term care nursing programs, and training programs fo-
cused on specific technology use or disease management.
‘‘SEC. 862. GRANTS FOR CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT.
‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary shall
award grants to designated eligible entities to develop and
incorporate gerontology curriculum and competencies.
‘‘(b) DESIGNATED ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—For purposes
of this section, the term ‘designated eligible entity’ means
an eligible entity that is a school of nursing.
‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—A designated eligible entity
that receives a grant under subsection (a) shall use funds
under such grant to develop stand alone courses in geri-
atric nursing to support concentrations, minors, and ma-
jors in the discipline, to hire faculty who are certified in
geriatric nursing, to train nursing faculty members in ger-
ontology, to provide continuing education in gerontology
for practicing nurses at diploma, associate degree, and
baccalaureate schools of nursing.
‘‘SEC. 863. GRANTS FOR PARTNERSHIPS.
‘‘(a) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award
grants to designated eligible entities to enable such enti-
ties to form partnerships to carry out the activities de-
scribed in subsection (d).
‘‘(b) DESIGNATED ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, the term ‘designated eligible entity’ means a
school of nursing and a health care facility, both of
which are eligible entities, that form a partnership
to carry out the activities described in subsection
(d).
‘‘(2) HEALTH CARE FACILITY.—For purposes
of this section, the term ‘health care facility’ means
a hospital, nursing home, home health care agency,
hospice, federally qualified health center, rural
health clinic, or public health clinic.
‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—A designated eligible entity
that receives a grant under subsection (a) shall use funds
received through such grant to—
‘‘(1) provide employees of the facility advanced
training and education at the school or facility;
‘‘(2) establish or expand nursing practice ar-
rangements in noninstitutional settings to dem-
onstrate methods to improve access to health care in
medically underserved communities;
‘‘(3) purchase distance learning technology to
extend general education and training programs to
rural areas, and to extend specialty education and
training programs to all areas; and
‘‘(4) establish or expand mentoring and intern-
ship programs for training in specialty care areas.
‘‘SEC. 864. GRANTS FOR HEALTH CAREER ACADEMIES.
‘‘(a) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award
grants to designated eligible entities for the purpose of as-
sisting such entities in collaborating to carry out programs
that form education pipelines to facilitate the entry of stu-
dents of secondary educational institutions into careers in
the field of nursing.
‘‘(b) DESIGNATED ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—For pur-
poses of subsection (a), the term ‘designated eligible enti-
ties’ means eligible entities that are schools of nursing,
health care providers, or secondary educational institu-
tions.
‘‘SEC. 865. FAST-TRACK NURSING FACULTY SCHOLARSHIP
AND LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAMS.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a
program of entering into contracts with individuals de-
scribed in subsection (b) under which the individuals agree
to serve as members of the faculties of schools of nursing
in consideration of the Federal Government agreeing—
‘‘(1) to provide scholarships for full-time at-
tendance at doctoral programs in the field of nurs-
ing; or
‘‘(2) to pay, for each year of service as such a
faculty member, not more than $20,000 of the prin-
cipal and interest of the educational loans of such
individuals.
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—The individuals re-
ferred to in subsection (a) are —
‘‘(1) in the case of the scholarship program
under such subsection, individuals who are enrolled
or accepted for enrollment in a doctoral program in
the field of nursing; and
‘‘(2) in the case of the loan repayment program
under such subsection—
‘‘(A) individuals who have a doctoral de-
gree in the field of nursing; or
‘‘(B) are enrolled in a doctoral program in
such field and are in the final academic year of
the program.
‘‘(c) REQUIREMENTS REGARDING FACULTY POSI-
TIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter
into a contract under subsection (a) only if the indi-
vidual involved has entered into a contract with a
school of nursing to serve as a member of the fac-
ulty of the school for two years, or for such longer
period as may be specified in the contract.
‘‘(2) LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary may
enter into a contract under subsection (a)(2)
only if the contract referred to in paragraph (1)
of this subsection provides that—