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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: JULY 23, 2002 Baca Joins Bipartisan House Delegation to Pass Nurse Reinvestment Act
Bill Would Address Critical Nursing Shortage in the Inland Empire and Nationwide WASHINGTON, D.C. - Representative Joe Baca (D-Rialto) and a bipartisan delegation of Members of the House of Representatives today passed legislation that provides incentives for students to pursue nursing as a career. The legislation would establish scholarship, grant, and loan programs for nursing students, assist nursing schools with geriatric care training, aid with the retention of nursing faculty in nursing schools, and provide grants for nurse retention and patient safety enhancements at health care facilities. "The shortage of nursing in the Inland Empire and across America is reaching a critical mass," said Baca. "This bipartisan legislation will help nursing schools attract qualified students, and help health care providers retain highly skilled, stable nursing staffs." H.R. 3487, which was agreed to by a delegation of members of the House and the Senate from both political parties before it was brought to the House floor for a vote, would require recipients of nursing scholarships to serve for a period of time in a health care facility facing a critical shortage of nurses. It would also provide nursing schools with funds to loan out to nursing students pursuing advanced degree with the understanding that they will join nursing faculty to train other nurses after they finish their graduate degree programs. Finally, the bill would provide funds to nursing schools to help train their students to care for an older population, and would provide funds to pay for public service announcements promoting nursing as a profession. A unique aspect of the bill is that it provides health care facilities with resources to increase nurse participation in management decisions and in clinical decision making with doctors. The goal of the language is to improve patient care by bringing the professional most responsible for day to day care into the clinical process. It also seeks to retain nurses by encouraging respect for a nurses' ability to make clinical decisions that directly affect patients care and treatment. "Nurses play an integral role in the healthcare of every American," Baca said. "It's time we started treating nurses like the highly skilled professionals that they are, and started helping the nursing profession retain its best and brightest." "Our health, the health of our children, and the health of our parents and grandparents depend on the nursing profession," Baca said. "Skilled nursing is the future of our healthcare system." # # # |
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