August 2023 is a good month for nurses as The Biden-Harris administration says it will invest $100 million into growing the nursing workforce. The legislation, which was announced officially on August 10th by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said it will allocate more than 100 million to expand the nursing workforce and train more nurses.
Consequently, this legislation holds promise for the provision of better healthcare outcomes in all medical settings, including hospitals, nursing homes, and other facilities. Furthermore, these investments will also help address the nursing staffing crisis and the increased need for registered nurses, nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, and nursing professionals in a variety of settings.
What Are the Key Objectives Emphasized in the Bill Awards?
HHS, as well as the whole Biden-Harris Administration, is dedicated to assisting nurses in their critical work and supporting initiatives that contribute to a growing nursing workforce. As a result, the awards of this bill will focus on the following three key priorities:
1. Nursing Education and Training for Primary Care, Mental Health Care, and Maternal Health Care
- Through the Advanced Nursing Education Workforce Program, $34.8 million will be allocated to expand the number of primary care nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, and certified nurse midwives who are trained and prepared to deliver primary care, mental health, and substance use disorder care, and/or maternal health care
- Through the Advanced Nursing Education-Nurse Practitioner Residency and Fellowship Program, $30 million will be allocated to support comprehensive residency and fellowship training programs aimed at increasing the number of qualified advanced practice nurses in primary care.
2. Increasing the Number of Licensed Practical Nurses who Become Registered Nurses
- $8.7 million investment for the Nurse Education, Practice, Quality, and Retention-Pathway to Registered Nurse Program, which prepares licensed practical nurses and licensed vocational nurses to become registered nurses.
3. Addressing Nurse Training Bottlenecks by Supporting More Nurse Faculty
- $26.5 million investment through the Nurse Faculty Loan Programs for award-recipient institutions to give low-interest loans and loan cancellation to encourage careers as nursing school instructors.
How To End The Nursing Crisis
The nursing crisis in the United States refers to the country's chronic lack of registered nurses (RNs), which has been a problem for more than a decade. Correspondingly, one recent study showed that a shortage of more than 450,000 bedside nurses will occur in the next two years.
To address the nursing crisis, policymakers and healthcare organizations are working to increase the number of nurses in the workforce and the passage of this bill could be the push to help make a difference. “Nurses are an essential part of our nation’s health care system,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra statement about the recent awards, and goes on to say, “Now more than ever, we need to double down on our investments in nurses who care for communities across the country.”
Need Coverage? Post Shifts and Recruit Nurses Quickly With Nursa
