NLN Praises House on Adoption of President's Proposed FY 2010 Budget for Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs
Recommendation of $263,403,000 Represents Potential Increase of $92,373,000 over FY 2009
$125 Million for Title VIII Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program 40 Percent More Allocated for Nurse Faculty Loan Program
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York, NY – July 24, 2009 – In increasing funding for Title VIII – Nursing Workforce Development Programs FY 2010, the House of Representatives has taken an important step toward securing and retaining adequate numbers of faculty to ensure that all individuals interested in – and qualified for – nursing school can matriculate in the year that they are accepted.
Said NLN CEO Dr. Beverly Malone, "We cannot agree more with Labor, Health & Education Appropriations Committee chair Rep. David Obey when he described the bill as one that makes vital investments to train people for jobs, shores up health and social safety nets to provide relief for millions of hard-working Americans caught in a struggle for economic survival, and provides the educational opportunities that are critical to the nations longer-term prosperity."
According to NLN data, 99,000 qualified applications to pre-licensure RN programs – nearly a quarter of the total – were turned away in 2007 primarily due to a lack of faculty. In the NLNs 2007-2008 annual survey of nursing schools, 84 percent said it was "difficult," with one in three finding it "very difficult," to recruit new faculty, the only way these programs will be able to meet the real demand for nurses in the decades ahead. Title VIII funding, including $125 million for the Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program and a 40 percent increase for the Nurse Faculty Loan Program, as reported by the House Appropriations Committee, will address this troubling state of affairs in nursing education.
"Coming on the heels of the presidents July 15 remarks about the value of nurses," added NLN president Dr. Elaine Tagliareni, "this news is especially heartening. Its safe to say that few understand why we have to pass reform as intimately as our nations nurses President Obama said. And that is especially true of nurse educators."
Concluded Dr. Malone, "It is gratifying to see that attention is being paid to the critical need to reverse the acute shortage of nurses and concomitant shortage of nurse educators so that the nations health care needs may be appropriately addressed.
As the voice for nursing education and nurse educators, the National League for Nursing calls on the Senate to follow the Houses lead and pass comparable funding for the Title VIII - Nurse Workforce Development Programs, essential for the prosperity and health of all Americans."
Editors and reporters: For interview opportunities, please contact Karen R. Klestzick at 212-812-0376 or kklestzick@nln.org.
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Dedicated to excellence in nursing, the National League for Nursing is the premier organization for nurse faculty and leaders in nursing education. The NLN offers faculty development, networking opportunities, testing services, nursing research grants, and public policy initiatives to its 30,000 individual and 1,200 institutional members who represent all types of nursing education programs.