The Nurse Education, Expansion, and Development (NEED) Act Summary (108th Congress) H.R. 5324 Grant Program The NEED Act would authorize capitation grants (formula grants to schools based on the number of students enrolled) for schools of nursing to improve their ability to educate nursing students. Graduate nursing programs would receive $1,800 per year for each master's or doctoral nursing student for a maximum of 2 years per master's student, and 4 years per doctoral student. Baccalaureate schools of nursing would receive $1,405 per nursing student, per year for no more than three years per student. Associate degree schools of nursing would receive $966 per student, per year for no more than two years per student. Schools of nursing would use the capitation grant funding to increase the number of nursing faculty and students at the school -- including by hiring new and retaining current faculty, purchasing educational equipment and audiovisual laboratories, enhancing clinical laboratories, repairing and expanding infrastructure, or recruiting students. Grant Requirements Grants would be awarded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to each eligible school of nursing that submits an application. A school of nursing is eligible for the capitation grant funding if it is accredited by a Department of Education-approved accrediting agency, has a passage rate on the National Council Licensure Examination for Register Nurses of not less than 80 percent, and has a graduation rate of not less than 80 percent. In addition, within one year of receipt of capitation grant funding, schools of nursing must formulate and implement a plan to accomplish at least two of the following: Establish or expand an accelerated baccalaureate degree nursing program designed to graduate new nurses in 12 to 18 months; Establish cooperative, intradisciplinary education among schools of nursing with a view toward shared use of technological resources; Establish cooperative, interdisciplinary training between schools of nursing and schools of allied health, medicine, dentistry, osteopathy, optometry, podiatry, pharmacy, public health, or veterinary medicine, including training for the use of the interdisciplinary team approach to the delivery health services; Integrate core competencies on evidence-based practice, quality improvements, and patient-centered care. Increase admissions, enrollment, and retention of qualified individuals who are financially disadvantaged; Increase enrollment of minority and diverse student populations; Increase enrollment of new graduate baccalaureate nursing students in graduate programs that educate nurse faculty members; Develop post-baccalaureate residency programs to prepare nurses for practice in specialty areas where nursing shortages are most severe; Increase integration of geriatric content into the core curriculum; Partner with economically disadvantaged communities to provide nursing education; and Expand the ability of nurse managed health centers to provide clinical education training sites to nursing students. Data Collection Each grant recipient must submit an annual report to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) that includes updated information on student enrollment, student retention, graduation rates, passage rates on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses, the number of graduates employed as nursing faculty or nursing care providers within 12 months of graduation, and the number of students who are accepted into graduate programs for further nursing education. The Secretary of Health and Human Services may make on-site inspections of any grant recipient school or require additional information or data to determine the extent to which such school is carrying out the bill's requirements. The Secretary must report to Congress on the extent to which schools receiving grants are carrying out their required projects for program participation. Nursing Faculty Shortage Study The General Accountability Office (GAO), one year after enactment, must study and report to Congress ways to increase participation in the nurse faculty profession. The report must include: A discussion of the masters and doctoral programs that are successful in placing graduates as faculty in schools of nursing; and An examination of compensation disparities throughout the nursing profession, and compensation disparities between higher education instructional faculty and higher education instructional nursing faculty. Authorization: $75 million for FY 2005, $85 million for FY 2006, and $95 million for FY 2007. Government Affairs | Home Copyright © 2004 by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. All rights reserved.