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Press
Release
For Immediate Release |
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Dr. Harriet Feldman Testifies
Before Congress in Support of AACN's Support Requested for the Nurse Faculty Loan Program and the NEED Act WASHINGTON, DC,
April 21, 2005 - Dr. Harriet Feldman, dean of the Lienhard School
of Nursing at Pace University in New York, presented testimony today
before the U.S. Congress on the need for more federal funding to
address the nursing faculty shortage as recommended by the American
Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). Dr. Feldman urged the
U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human
Services and Education to increase funding for the existing Nurse
Faculty Loan Program and to support the Nurse Education, Expansion
and Development (NEED) Act which was introduced last year by Reps.
Nita Lowey (D-NY-18) and Lois Capps (D-CA-23). "Nurses are really the backbone of our health care system. Their care is essential for the well-being of patients, yet we have far too few nurses for our aging population," said Congresswoman Nita Lowey. "My legislation will increase the number of nurses by allowing nursing schools to invest in more instructors and improved equipment to increase their ability to enroll qualified applicants. With the support of AACN, I'll continue to push for its passage." Currently, most federal funding for nursing education programs is awarded through Nursing Workforce Development programs (Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act) which are administered by the federal Division of Nursing. Though funding is currently at the $150 million level, AACN is requesting an increase of approximately $25 million in FY 2006, primarily for the Nurse Faculty Loan Program (NFLP) which is now funded at the $4.83 million level. The NFLP succeeds in bringing new faculty into nursing by providing loan repayment to nurses completing master's or doctoral degrees who agree to work in schools of nursing after graduation. In addition to increasing NFLP funding, Dr. Feldman called for support for the NEED Act which will be reintroduced in the 109th Congress by Reps. Lowey and Capps later this year. The NEED Act calls for awarding formula or capitation grants to schools based on the number of nursing students enrolled. Through this legislation, nursing schools would use additional funding to increase the number of nursing faculty and students, including hiring new and retaining current faculty, purchasing educational equipment and audiovisual laboratories, enhancing clinical laboratories, repairing and expanding infrastructure, and recruiting students from diverse backgrounds. "AACN is grateful to Reps. Lowey and Capps for their leadership in advancing legislation that will allow nursing schools to expand enrollments and increase access to nursing care for all Americans," said AACN President Dr. Jean E. Bartels. "By addressing the faculty shortage and other the core issues which are preventing nursing schools from admitting more students, the NEED Act will enable schools to accommodate more qualified students in professional nursing programs." In 2004, more than 32,000 qualified students were turned away from baccalaureate and higher degree nursing programs, due primarily to a shortage of faculty. "Capitation grants have a proven track record for stimulating enrollment growth in schools of nursing across the country," added Dr. Feldman, "If instituted once again, capitation grants could play a key role in resolving the current nursing shortage." Dr. Feldman's complete oral testimony is available
on the AACN Web site at http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Government/Testimony/Feldman.htm.
For more information on AACN's legislative strategies related to
Nursing Workforce Development programs, see http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Government/Docs/TitleVIIIFY06.DOC. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing is the national voice for university and four-year-college education programs in nursing. Representing more than 585 member schools of nursing at public and private institutions nationwide, AACN's educational, research, governmental advocacy, data collection, publications, and other programs work to establish quality standards for bachelor's- and graduate-degree nursing education, assist deans and directors to implement those standards, influence the nursing profession to improve health care, and promote public support of baccalaureate and graduate nursing education, research, and practice. Web site: http://www.aacn.nche.edu CONTACT: Robert Rosseter |
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Copyright
© 2005 by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
All rights reserved.
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