Title: National Nurse Act of 2019
Policy area: Health

Summary:
National Nurse Act of 2019
This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services to designate the Chief Nurse Officer of the Public Health Service as the National Nurse for Public Health.
The position includes the authority to (1) provide leadership and coordination of Public Health Service nursing professional affairs for the Office of the Surgeon General and other agencies of the Public Health Service, (2) conduct outreach and education, and (3) provide guidance and leadership for activities that will increase public safety and emergency preparedness.
The National Nurse for Public Health must (1) participate in identification of national health priorities, (2) encourage volunteerism of nurses and strengthen the relationship between government agencies and health-related national organizations, and (3) promote the dissemination of evidence-based practice in educating the public on health promotion and disease prevention activities.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 696 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 696

To designate the same individual serving as the Chief Nurse Officer of 
   the Public Health Service as the National Nurse for Public Health.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 7, 2019

  Mr. Merkley (for himself and Mrs. Capito) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To designate the same individual serving as the Chief Nurse Officer of 
   the Public Health Service as the National Nurse for Public Health.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``National Nurse Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL NURSE FOR PUBLIC HEALTH.

    Title XVII of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300u et 
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 1712. NATIONAL NURSE FOR PUBLIC HEALTH.

    ``(a) Establishment.--The same individual designated as the Chief 
Nurse Officer of the Public Health Service under section 205 shall also 
be designated by the Secretary as the National Nurse for Public Health.
    ``(b) Authority.--The National Nurse for Public Health shall have 
the authority and flexibility to carry out the following:
            ``(1) Provide leadership and coordination of Public Health 
        Service nursing professional affairs for the Office of the 
        Surgeon General and other agencies of the Public Health 
        Service, including providing representation for the Government 
        of the United States at the Global Forum for Government Chief 
        Nursing and Midwifery Officers and serving as a member of the 
        Federal Nursing Service Council.
            ``(2) Represent the Surgeon General and the agencies of 
        Public Health Service in communications with groups and 
        societies concerned with nursing issues at the local, State, 
        national, and international levels.
            ``(3) Provide guidance and advice to the Surgeon General 
        and the Nurse Professional Advisory Committee on matters such 
        as standards, recruitment, retention, readiness, and career 
        development of nurses employed by and contracted with agencies 
        of the Public Health Service.
            ``(4) Conduct outreach and education for purposes of 
        paragraphs (5) through (7).
            ``(5) Provide guidance and leadership for activities to 
        promote the public health, including encouraging nurses and 
        other health professionals to be volunteers and developing 
        projects that educate the public about and engage the public in 
        prevention practices to achieve better health.
            ``(6) Provide guidance and leadership to encourage nurses 
        to engage in furthering their education in order to conduct 
        nursing research, increase the awareness of evidence-based 
        practice, and educate future nurses.
            ``(7) Provide guidance and leadership for activities that 
        will increase public safety and emergency preparedness.
            ``(8) Prepare and publish a biennial report on the state of 
        the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service Nurse 
        Category.
    ``(c) National Health Priorities--National Prevention Strategy.--
            ``(1) In general.--The National Nurse for Public Health, in 
        cooperation with the Surgeon General of the Public Health 
        Service, heads of the agencies of the Public Health Service, 
        States, and organizations that represent health professionals, 
        shall continue to participate in the identification of national 
        health priorities.
            ``(2) Addressing national health priorities.--The National 
        Nurse for Public Health, in addressing national health 
        priorities, shall encourage volunteerism of nurses and other 
        individuals, and strengthen the relationship between Government 
        agencies and health-related national organizations.
            ``(3) Community-based projects.--
                    ``(A) Implementation.--In addressing national 
                health priorities, the National Nurse for Public Health 
                shall--
                            ``(i) provide guidance and coordination on 
                        recommended activities to organizations;
                            ``(ii) acknowledge successful programs and 
                        encourage their replication;
                            ``(iii) promote the dissemination of 
                        evidence-based practice in educating the public 
                        on health promotion and disease prevention 
                        activities;
                            ``(iv) encourage practicing nurses and 
                        other health professionals, including retired 
                        health professionals and students enrolled in 
                        health professional programs, to participate in 
                        health promotion activities and replicate 
                        successful health promotion activities in their 
                        local communities; and
                            ``(v) collaborate with Federal agencies to 
                        monitor activities being conducted through the 
                        collection and evaluation of data to determine 
                        if national health priorities are being 
                        addressed.
                    ``(B) Outreach and education.--In conducting 
                outreach and education under subsection (b)(4), the 
                National Nurse for Public Health shall give priority to 
                the inclusion of diverse approaches, including social 
                media campaigns, to address national health priorities.
                    ``(C) Dissemination of information.--The National 
                Nurse for Public Health shall disseminate information 
                to governmental agencies, schools, and community-based, 
                nonprofit organizations interested in health promotion 
                and improving public health through community 
                action.''.
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