The Nurse Training and Retention Act - An Idea Whose Time Has Come

Last Fall, a federal RN staffing bill was introduced by Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) that "addresses our nation's nursing shortage and ensures an adequate supply of nurses by awarding Department of Labor grants to programs that offer opportunities for a career ladder for current healthcare workers to become nurses and current nurses to receive specialty training and advanced degrees to become nurse faculty."

Co-sponsors of the legislation included Senators Barack Obama (D-IL), Patty Murray (D-WA), Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Robert Casey (D-PA). Such legislation represents our vision, the result of years of healthcare training and education. But to get such legislation passed into law will require a President and a Congress committed to this vision. Hopefully, after November 4, we'll have such commitment in Washington.

The Durbin bill--officially, the Nurse Training and Retention Act of 2007 (S. 2064)--grows out of an understanding that our healthcare system depends on nurses to deliver quality patient care. The existing shortage of nurses will significantly worsen over the next fifteen years, with a projected shortage of 1,046,900 nurses by 2020.

Incumbent healthcare workers and incumbent bedside nurses are an untapped source of future nurses and nurse faculty who with support and education can help meet this shortage.

The Act would award grants to programs that provide college preparation, tuition assistance, in meeting licensing requirements, and training to establish career ladders to educate incumbent healthcare workers to become nurses.

Additional grants would be given to programs to assist current nurses to obtain advanced degrees and establish incentives for nurses to assume nurse faculty positions to increase the capacity of nursing schools.