I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3589
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants
to eligible entities to implement and evaluate demonstrations of models
and best practices in nursing care and to develop innovative strategies
for retention of professional nurses.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
DECEMBER 20, 2001
Mr. MALONEY of Connecticut introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to
award grants to eligible entities to implement and evalu-
ate demonstrations of models and best practices in nurs-
ing care and to develop innovative strategies for retention
of professional nurses.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. DEVELOPING BEST PRACTICES AND RETEN-
TION STRATEGIES IN NURSING STAFF MAN-
AGEMENT.
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—DEVELOPING BEST PRACTICES AND
RETENTION STRATEGIES IN NURSING STAFF
MANAGEMENT
‘‘SEC. 851. GRANTS.
‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary shall
award grants to eligible entities to carry out and evaluate
demonstrations of models and best practices in nursing
care and to develop innovative strategies or approaches for
retention of professional nurses.
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en-
tity’ means—
‘‘(A) a partnership or coalition containing
a health care facility and a baccalaureate, asso-
ciate degree, or diploma school of nursing or
another organization with expertise in outcome
and cost-effectiveness measurement; or
‘‘(B) a health care facility demonstrating
proficiency (as evidenced by accreditation by an
accepted organization) in outcomes and cost-ef-
fectiveness measurement.
‘‘(2) HEALTH
CARE
FACILITY.—The term
‘health care facility’ means a hospital, skilled nurs-
ing facility, long-term care facility, home health care
agency, federally qualified health center, nurse-man-
aged health center, rural health clinic, public health
clinic, or any other entity as designated by the Sec-
retary.
‘‘(3) NURSE
LEADERSHIP.—The term ‘nurse
leadership’ includes nurse executives, nurse adminis-
trators, and nurse managers.
‘‘(4) PROFESSIONAL NURSE.—The term ‘profes-
sional nurse’ means a registered nurse who holds a
valid and unrestricted license to practice nursing in
a State.
‘‘(c) DISTRIBUTION OF GRANTS.—Grants awarded
under this section shall be distributed among eligible enti-
ties representing a variety of geographic regions and a
range of different types and sizes of health care facilities.
‘‘(d) DURATION OF GRANTS.—Grants awarded under
this section shall be awarded for a period not greater than
2 years (and may be renewable only once).
‘‘(e) ALLOCATION.—The Secretary shall determine
the amount of a grant awarded under this section for the
nursing services of a health care facility based on the num-
ber of staffed beds of the facility as follows, and, if the
Secretary deems appropriate, these amounts may be ad-
justed:
‘‘(1) A maximum of $200,000 for a facility with
fewer than 100 staffed beds.
‘‘(2) A maximum of $400,000 for a facility with
fewer than 400 staffed beds.
‘‘(3) A maximum of $600,000 for a facility with
400 or more staffed beds.
‘‘(f) PRIORITY CRITERIA.—In awarding grants under
this section, the Secretary shall give priority to—
‘‘(1) health care facilities that have not pre-
viously received grant funds under this section; or
‘‘(2) in the case of a grant renewal, grant re-
cipients who have demonstrated outcome improve-
ments or have been designated as a magnet hospital
by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
‘‘(g) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity that receives
a grant under subsection (a) shall use such grant funds
to do 1 or more of the following:
‘‘(1) Improve the quality of the health care fa-
cility work environment, including improving com-
munication and collaboration among health care pro-
fessionals.
‘‘(2) Initiate or maintain aggressive nurse re-
tention programs, including other initiatives as
deemed appropriate by the nurse retention com-
mittee at the health care facility.
‘‘(3) Reduce workplace injuries.
‘‘(4) Reduce rates of nursing sensitive patient
outcomes.
‘‘(5) Provide high-quality evaluations of the
cost-effectiveness and patient outcomes of best prac-
tices, to assist health care facility decisionmakers in
determining appropriate nurse retention strategies.
‘‘(6) Promote continuing nursing education and
career development.
‘‘(h) APPLICATION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity desiring a
grant under subsection (a) shall submit an applica-
tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner,
and containing such information as the Secretary
may reasonably require.
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—An application submitted
under paragraph (1) shall include a description of—
‘‘(A) the project or projects proposed to be
carried out with grant funds;
‘‘(B) the means by which to evaluate the
project with respect to its cost-effectiveness and
outcomes as they relate to staff turnover, work-
place injuries, and patient care outcomes that
are sensitive to nursing care;
‘‘(C) the system of patient outcomes meas-
ure, which shall be described by the nurse lead-
ership and professional nurses of the health
care facility, shall be sensitive to nursing care,
shall evaluate the specific needs of the patients
served by the health care facility and the edu-
cational needs of the nursing staff at such facil-
ity to meet the needs of the patients, and shall
be allocated by the health care facility sufficient
funds to carry out the system; and
‘‘(D) the health care facility’s organiza-
tional and clinical decisionmaking processes
that incorporate the input of the nursing staff,
including the development of a nurse retention
committee, the inclusion of nurse executive par-
ticipation in senior level management of the
health care facility, and a nurse residency train-
ing program for new graduate nurses entering
the workforce on a full-time basis, or nurses re-
turning to work at a health care facility on a
full-time basis after an absence of not less than
3 years without working in the nursing field.
‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section
$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2002 through 2007.’’.
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