AACN CALLS ON NURSING STUDENTS
TO "REGISTER AND VOTE!"
Association Launches Campaign
To Urge Students to Influence Public Policy Affecting
Nursing Education
WASHINGTON, D.C., August 27, 1996 -- Deans
and faculty already do, but what about nursing students?
In 1992, only 43 percent of 18-to-24 year olds voted in
the presidential election. To generate higher turnout, the
American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) has launched
a campaign to encourage all nursing students in the nation’s
universities and four-year colleges to register and vote
this fall. AACN joins other nursing, higher education, and
national student associations who are calling on college
and university students to participate fully in the political
process by registering and voting in November.
"The Nurse Education Act -- the largest
source of federal support for undergraduate and graduate
nurse training -- provided nearly $60 million in 1996 for
educational programs at schools of nursing nationwide, and
commits tens of millions more for low-interest loans for
nursing students," says AACN President Carole A. Anderson,
PhD, RN, FAAN. "Moreover, federal funding of the National
Institute of Nursing Research provided $55 million in 1996
for research to improve patient outcomes, train nurse scientists,
and address major health care concerns ranging from chronic
disease and aging to maternal and child health and improved
management of pain."
State financing is also a major source of
funds for public higher education and even for some private
colleges and universities. But local pressures are forcing
some states to freeze or sharply reduce their higher education
budgets. Indeed, nearly two-thirds of public institutions
receive less financial support from states than they did
ten years ago, according to a new report by the American
Council on Education.
"Congressional, state, and local legislators
don’t know what students and others citizens think about
nursing and other higher education issues unless they register
and vote. More than ever, now is the time for students to
examine the candidates for the presidency, House and Senate,
and state offices, to consider their positions, and vote
accordingly," Dr. Anderson urges. Enactment of the National
Voter Registration Act in 1993 -- the so-called “motor voter”
law -- greatly simplified voter registration by allowing
citizens to register by post card, at driver’s license renewal,
or when applying for federal or state public assistance.
"But making it easy doesn’t always make it happen,"AACN
advises nurse educators. With more than 165,000 baccalaureate
and graduate-degree nursing students in the United States,
student nurses are a potentially significant force in their
communities. "The nursing profession, including our students,
must be actively involved in the public policy process or
suffer the consequences," Dr. Anderson explains.
AACN is supplying Register and Vote! flyers
to member nursing schools and is urging schools to help
students take a first step by encouraging them to register
and vote by:
- Enclosing Register and Vote! flyers with
fall term enrollment materials, and posting flyers on
student and faculty bulletin boards;
- Having voter registration materials available
during the nursing school’s registration process and at
the school’s administrative office.
- Urging faculty to stress to students the
vital importance of being registered and voting, particularly
when discussing public policy and its impact on nursing
practice, nursing research, and on health care delivery
overall.
- Sponsoring a nursing school Voter Registration
Day and encouraging faculty and staff to participate.
"More than most, 1996 is an election
year with enormous significance because of the critical
policy questions being weighed," Dr. Anderson says. "Chief
among these is nothing less than a reconsideration of the
role of the federal government, including how and to what
degree major activity -- such as education in nursing and
in other health professions -- receives public financial
support. The health care marketplace could be affected by
federal or state legislation that creates, funds, or outright
eliminates vital programs. Registering and voting by students
is a crucial way to assure that nursing -- America’s largest
health care profession -- continues to be a central force
in shaping the nation’s health care agenda."
The American Association of Colleges
of Nursing is the national voice for university and four-year-college
education programs in nursing. Representing more than 580
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.
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CONTACT: Robert Rosseter
(202) 463-6930, x231
rrosseter@aacn.nche.edu
