Stimulus Bill Includes Funding for Nursing Education
Date released: 18 Feb 2009
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed into law yesterday holds some promising provisions that would help address the nation’s nursing and nursing faculty shortage.
According to Dorrie Fontaine, RN, PhD, FAAN, “It's gratifying to see that nursing education and the nursing shortage are recognized in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. With a nationwide nursing faculty shortage making it impossible to educate all those who are eager to enter nursing, it is ever more important to invest in those programs that will help us to address the country's growing nursing shortage." Dr. Fontaine is the Sadie Heath Cabaniss Professor of Nursing and Dean of the University of Virginia School of Nursing.
In the final stimulus bill, $500 million is allocated for health professions training. Of that, $300 million is designated for the National Health Service Corps and the remaining $200 million will be divided between the Nursing Workforce Development Programs (Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act) and the Health Professions Training Programs (Title VII). An additional $10 billion is included for the National Institutes of Health with $7.4 billion allocated to the Institutes (including the National Institute of Nursing Research), the Centers and the Common Fund.
The Nursing Workforce Development Programs under Title VIII address key factors in the nursing shortage including education, practice, retention and recruitment. Title VII programs are the only federally funded programs that support education and training of individuals within the interdisciplinary healthcare team. Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students and the Faculty Loan Repayment Program offer vital support for nursing schools and nursing students. The National Health Service Corps provides scholarships and loans across several disciplines including nurse practitioners and nurse-midwives.
Within the next ninety days the Health Resources and Services Administration will determine the exact apportionment of the funding among these programs and the potential specific impact for the UVA School of Nursing will become clearer.