NurseLine (the weekly e-newsletter of the Michigan Nurses Association)
www.minurses.org

 

HOUSE AND SENATE MOVE TO INCREASE FUNDING FOR NURSING EDUCATION

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee has recommended an increase in funding for Nursing Workforce Development Programs (Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act) by almost $20 million more than last year, for total FY 2008 funding of $169.7 million. This is particularly good news given the funding cuts to nursing education proposed in the President's FY 2008 budget. Of special interest, the Senate is calling for the Nurse Faculty Loan Program to receive $8 million (6.8% increase) and the Advanced Education Nursing Grants was provided $68.9 million (20.7% increase) over FY 2007. Funding for Title VIII has not yet been taken up by the full House Appropriations Committee, but the House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee has recommended $165.6 million in funding for Title VIII. We anticipate that the full House Appropriations Committee will take up the bill after the July 4 recess. For more details, see American Association of Colleges of Nurses.

 

NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH EDUCATION INITIATIVE LAUNCHED

The Institute of Medicine has recommended that “all undergraduates have access to education in public health.” To operationalize this recommendation, a Consensus Conference on Undergraduate Public Health Education was recently sponsored by the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH), the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR,) and the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences (CCAS) with support from the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation. Conference participants concluded that all colleges and universities should offer introductory courses, including Public Health 101, Epidemiology 101, and Global Health. On September 14, 2007 the MMWR will publish a supplement devoted to the recommendations of the Consensus Conference on Undergraduate Public Health Education. APTR will also launch a new website on September 15, 2007 - www.teachpublichealth.org – that will include resource materials related to this initiative.

 

NEW DATA SHOWS HIRING PREFERENCE FOR BACCALAUREATE NURSES

According to the latest data from the Council on Physician and Nurse Supply housed at the University of Pennsylvania, more than 96% of hospital CEOs surveyed agreed that the U.S. has too few nurses while 82% are seeing a shortage of physicians. Eighty-six percent of hospital CEOs surveyed are currently recruiting physicians, while 89% are recruiting nurses. Of those recruiting physicians, 80% are seeking primary care doctors while 74% are seeking specialists. The majority of those recruiting nurses (54%) prefer to hire nurses with baccalaureate degrees. The Council has voiced concern that the proposed 2008 federal budget calls for significant cuts in funds for both physician and nursing education. Given the shortages, the Council recommends that Congress consider ways to increase rather than diminish physician and nurse supply. The survey was conducted on behalf of the Council by AMN Healthcare, the nation’s largest healthcare staffing company. For more information see
AMN Healthcare Media Rooom.