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.
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 ‘‘Recruitment and Di-
versity in Nursing Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) The United States is experiencing a nursing 
shortage due to declining enrollment rates in edu-
cation and nursing programs. The Federal Govern-
ment has a substantial interest in addressing the 
nursing shortage, because the shortage affects the 
overall health and safety of patients receiving health 
care. 
(2) The average age of nurses in the United 
States is 43.3. Unless the Congress takes affirmative 
measures, the shortage will only continue to worsen 
as nurses retire and leave the profession. 
(3) Increasing access to nursing education for 
nontraditional students will result in more people en-
tering the profession and thus combat the current 
nursing shortage and help to reduce the average age 
of nurses. 
(4) Increasing the awareness of elementary and 
secondary school students about careers in nursing, 
through the use of nonprofit organizations, will as-
sist in recruitment of nontraditional nursing stu-
dents and thus combat the current nursing shortage 
and help to reduce the average age of nurses. 
SEC. 3. SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM FOR NONTRADITIONAL 
NURSING STUDENTS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Section 846 of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 297n) is amended—
(1) by redesignating subsections (e), (f), (g), 
(h), and (i) as subsections (f), (g), (h), (i), and (j), 
respectively; and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(e) SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall (for 
fiscal years 2004 and 2005) and may (for fiscal 
years thereafter) carry out a program of entering 
into contracts with nontraditional nursing students 
under which such students agree to serve as nurses 
for a period of not less than 2 years at a health care 
facility with a critical shortage of nurses, in consid-
eration of the Federal Government agreeing to pro-
vide to the students scholarships for attendance at 
accredited schools of nursing. 
‘‘(2) NONTRADITIONAL NURSING STUDENT.—In 
this subsection, the term ‘nontraditional nursing stu-
dent’ means an individual who—
‘‘(A) belongs to a group that is underrep-
resented among registered nurses, including so-
cially disadvantaged individuals and males; and 
‘‘(B) is enrolled or accepted for enrollment 
as a full-time or part-time student in an accred-
ited school of nursing.
‘‘(3) ADVANCED DEGREE PROGRAMS.—The Sec-
retary shall ensure that not more than 25 percent of 
the contracts entered into under this subsection are 
for scholarships for training in advanced degree pro-
grams (as that term is used in section 811). 
‘‘(4) SERVICE REQUIREMENT.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary may 
not enter into a contract with a nontraditional 
nursing student under this subsection unless 
the student agrees to serve as a nurse at a 
health care facility with a critical shortage of 
nurses for a period of full-time service of not 
less than 2 years, or for a period of part-time 
service in accordance with subparagraph (B). 
‘‘(B) PART-TIME
SERVICE.—A nontradi-
tional nursing student may complete the period 
of service described in subparagraph (A) on a 
part-time basis if the student has a written 
agreement that—
‘‘(i) is entered into by the facility and 
the student and is approved by the Sec-
retary; and
‘‘(ii) provides that the period of obli-
gated service will be extended so that the 
aggregate amount of service performed will
equal the amount of service that would be 
performed through a period of full-time 
service of not less than 2 years. 
‘‘(5) 
APPLICABILITY
OF
CERTAIN
PROVI-
SIONS.—The provisions of subpart III of part D of 
title III shall, except as inconsistent with this sec-
tion, apply to the program established in paragraph 
(1) in the same manner and to the same extent as 
such provisions apply to the National Health Service 
Corps Scholarship Program established in such sub-
part.’’. 
(b) PREFERENCE BASED ON FINANCIAL NEED.—
Section 846(f) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
297n) (as redesignated by subsection (a)(1)) is amended 
by striking ‘‘under subsection (a) or (d)’’ and inserting 
‘‘under subsections (a), (d), and (e)’’. 
(c) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.—Sub-
section (j) of section 846 of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 297n) (as redesignated by subsection (a)(1)) 
is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1)—
(A) by striking ‘‘For the purpose of’’ and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(A) For the purpose of’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(B) For the purpose of carrying out sub-
section (e), there are authorized to be appro-
priated such sums as may be necessary for each 
of fiscal years 2004 through 2008, except that 
funds may be appropriated for such purpose for 
a fiscal year only if the amount of such funds 
will be sufficient for the Secretary to enter into 
agreements that year under subsection (e) with 
not less than 250 nontraditional nursing stu-
dents.’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘amounts ap-
propriated under paragraph (1)’’ and inserting 
‘‘amounts appropriated under paragraph (1)(A)’’. 
SEC. 4. PROMOTING AND RECRUITING NURSES THROUGH 
ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL INI-
TIATIVES. 
Part H of title VIII of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 297w et seq.) is amended—
(1) by amending the part heading to read as 
follows: 
‘‘PART H—PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS 
AND RECRUITING’’; 
and 
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘SEC. 
853. 
PROMOTING 
AND 
RECRUITING 
NURSES 
THROUGH ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY 
SCHOOL INITIATIVES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall (for fiscal 
years 2004 and 2005) and may (for fiscal years there-
after) make grants to eligible entities to carry out nursing 
awareness and recruitment programs in elementary 
schools and secondary schools. 
‘‘(b) USE OF FUNDS.—The Secretary may not make 
a grant to an applicant under this subsection unless the 
applicant agrees—
‘‘(1) to use the grant to promote careers in 
nursing by carrying out nursing awareness and re-
cruitment programs in elementary and secondary 
schools, of which at least 50 percent must have a 
high percentage of nontraditional students; and 
‘‘(2) in carrying out such programs, to encour-
age increasing the diversity of the nursing profession 
by presenting a diverse image of nursing inclusive of 
nontraditional students. 
‘‘(c) DURATION OF GRANT.—The Secretary may not 
make a grant under this section for a period of more than 
3 years. 
‘‘(d) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 
date of enactment of this section and annually thereafter, 
the Secretary shall submit to the Congress a report de-
scribing the programs carried out with grants under this 
section, including the following: 
‘‘(1) The number of grant recipients. 
‘‘(2) The number of schools visited. 
‘‘(3) The total amount in grants awarded. 
‘‘(4) The educational institutions that received 
visits. 
‘‘(5) To the extent that it can be determined, 
the number of students who have an increased inter-
est in nursing. 
‘‘(6) The educational methods used by grant re-
cipients to encourage a diverse image of nursing. 
‘‘(7) The demographics of the schools and stu-
dents participating in the nursing awareness pro-
grams. 
‘‘(8) Not later than 10 years after the date of 
enactment of this section, the percentage and num-
ber of individuals from the visited schools entering 
nursing careers in comparison to such percentage 
and number before the visits. 
‘‘(9) An evaluation of the overall costs and ben-
efits of the programs. 
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
‘‘(1) The terms ‘elementary school’ and ‘sec-
ondary school’ have the meanings given to those
terms in section 9101 of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 
‘‘(2) The term ‘eligible entity’ means any public 
or private nonprofit organization involved in nursing 
issues, any other public or private nonprofit organi-
zation approved by the Secretary, any school of 
nursing, any nursing center, any academic health 
center, and any State or local government. 
‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 
such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 
2004 through 2008.’’.
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