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 On
August 1, 2002, President George W. Bush signed the Nurse
Reinvestment Act into law in an Oval Office ceremony. This
legislation is a strong first step in addressing the shortage
of registered nurses and nursing faculty. Dr. Kathleen Ann
Long, AACN's President, was invited and did attend the ceremony
along with the president of the American Nurses Association.
In addition, representatives of both the Federation of American
Hospitals and the American Hospital Association attended.
Members
of Congress also in attendance included Sen. Edward Kennedy
(D-MA), Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN), Sen. Tim Hutchinson (R-AR),
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY),
Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA), Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA), Sen. John
Kerrey (D-MA), Rep. Bob Ehrlich (R-MD), and Rep. Dave Hobson
(R-OH). These Congressional leaders are to be commended for
their strong support of this legislation that moved through
the House and Senate with uncommon speed. Also notable are
Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson and
Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao who were present.
At the
press conference following the ceremony, Dr. Long thanked
the members of Congress and the President for their support
of this legislation and noted that this should really be called
the “Patient's Reinvestment Act” given the important
contributions of nursing to patient care and this country's
health care system.
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