Continued Support from JMU Nursing 2011

As a group we have emailed a number of influential stakeholders for H.R. 2043 Nurse Education, Expansion, and Development Act of 2009. These include Representative Henry A. Waxman for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce; Linda Ault (BSN, MSN) of the Virginia Nurses Association; Kemper McCauley (BSN), the director of the surgical floor at Augusta Health; Linda Sobel (PhD, RN) of James Madison University; and Congressman Jim Moran, representing the 8th district of Virginia. H.R. 2043 currently resides in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and based upon the reasons previously mentioned, we feel that their involvement is key to the continued passage of this bill.

Based upon the comments from previous posts, it is clear that James Madison University nursing students for the class 2011 support H.R. 2043 in that there is an obvious need for increased nursing faculty. We hope to see this bill progress and look forward to positive changes as we enter the workforce.

Tim Kaine for Support of H.R. 2043

The final individual we e-mailed is former Governor Tim Kaine. He is currently the chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). As a party, Democrats typically support health care reform and support the Affordable Care Act. As the chairman for the DNC, Tim Kaine should know how H.R. 2043 will affect nurses in the future, and he should know what current nursing students’ opinions on the bill are. With his extensive network, Tim Kaine can help raise awareness about the nursing shortage and the Nurse Education, Expansion, and Development Act of 2009.

Senator Mark Warner for Support

We also contacted Senator Mark Warner to take a look at our blog. The reason we chose him as one of our contacts is because he is the senator of Virginia, and should know the opinions that us as nursing students have on H.R. 2043. During his time as governor, Senator Warner focused on improving public education, so he is obviously concerned with the welfare of Virginia’s students. His efforts to improve the health care system go back about twenty years. He is a co-founder of the nonprofit Virginia Health Care Foundation, administered a state Medicaid program, and organized and led his freshman colleagues in adding new tools to proposed health reform legislation that are designed to lower costs for consumers and businesses. Lastly Senator Warner has been a leader in his support of non-profit organizations that promote public schools and higher education and research into Alzheimer’s disease and juvenile diabetes. Overall Senator Mark Warner seemed like a good choice to inform about our blog, since he is involved in many aspects of education as well as healthcare.

Stakeholder Support in Northern Virginia

With the passage of the Healthcare Reform bill, it is important that H.R. 2043 is considered given the fact that it addresses nursing education, expansion, and development; which can drastically impact the quality of care given to patients in the future. I emailed Congressman Jim Moran, representing the 8th district of Virginia. Congressman Moran largely supported passage of the landmark health insurance reform, and serves in a highly politically influential area outside of the District of Columbia in Alexandria, Arlington, Falls Church, Fairfax County, and Reston, VA.
Congressman supports the current healthcare reform because of its step in curbing increases health care delivery costs as well as providing more treatment to peoples suffering from mental illnesses. He has also been proactive in disease prevention, health promotion, and cessation of smoking in multiple House office buildings. He is also involved in National Institute for Health (NIH) and funding for health research, while supporting medical and scientific communities’ rights to exercise their skills in current stem cell research. There are multiple non-profit organizations that Congressman Moran continues to provide funding for, including a nurse-managed care facility at Marymount University.
I believe that with Congressman Moran’s support of healthcare reform, involved research and disease prevention efforts, and support of nursing care facilities to help lower income families, Congressman Moran can help the passage of H.R. 2043 due to his congressional influence and history of health care involvement.

Congressman Jim Moran-healthcare. (2010, November 11). Retrieved from http://moran.house.gov/issues_healthcare.shtml

Key Stakeholders

As of April 22, 2009, no new developments have been made in the passing of the Nursing Education, Expansion, and Development Act of 2009. With the recent elections, it is important that the supporters pass on the significance of this bill to newly elected house members. Rick Boucher was running for a house position in the 9^th district, but was unsuccessful. He served on two house committees and was a big proponent for health care reform and was a supporter or of H. R. 2043. With his loss in this election, he will be passing his position on the committee that supports this bill. Because we feel this bill is of great significance to nursing education, we emailed the Commissioner of Government Affairs, Linda Ault BSN, MSN, of the Virginia Nurses Association to encourage lobbying of H.R. 2043 for the new house members.

To get a local point of view, we emailed Kemper McCauley BSN, the director of the surgical floor at Augusta Health to ask if he has seen a change in the number of graduating nurses because of the nursing faculty shortage. His perspective in the clinical setting will demonstrate the effect of the faculty nursing shortage on all nurses. We also emailed Linda Sobel PhD, RN, to get an understanding of how the nursing faculty shortage affects actual nursing faculty. Specifically, how does the shortage affect the work load and number of classes the staff is responsible for?

Fighting For a Change

As nursing students, we support H.R. 2043 because of the positive impact it could have on our future careers in the nursing field. RNs in all fields and facilities will be impacted by the nursing shortage. Fewer nurses indicate a tense atmosphere due to higher demands and increasing burnout rates. The Nurse Education, Expansion, and Development Act of 2009, if passed, will increase the numbers of new nurses entering the field and will therefore lower the nursing shortage.

H.R. 2043 currently resides in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. The Chair of this committee is Representative Henry A. Waxman. As a representative, Waxman has advocated for universal health insurance, Medicare and Medicaid coverage, and nursing home quality standards. Representative Waxman has also helped sponsor multiple health bills that were passed, including Nutritional Labeling and Education Act and Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. We feel that it is important for Representative Waxman to hear about this bill and understand why we as nursing students support this bill. We are in a unique position in that we are currently experiencing staffing shortages and consequences of limited nursing school faculty first hand.

We intend to pursue Representative Waxman’s support through e-mail communication. This will include our stance on the bill, how it will affect us if passed, and the detrimental effects on the nursing shortage if not passed. We encourage nursing students across the country to consider contacting Representative Waxman as well as becoming familiar with the law making process. The more people that are involved in the support of this bill, the greater the chances of an improved outcome.

"Chair Henry A. Waxman." Energy and Commerce Committee. N.p., 19 Oct. 2010. Web. 24 Oct. 2010. .

Political Influence and the National League for Nurses

     According to the National League for Nurses, the leading voice in political activism focused on promoting nursing education to build a stronger workforce, health care reform depends on the nation's investment in nursing education. Their policy agenda for 2009-2010 includes: support for new programs that increase faculty in order to grow the number of future nurses, increase in government efforts to improve the education of advanced practice nursing, advocate for an expansion of education to increase the number nursing faculty, and promote scholarship to reduce financial strain of attaining higher level education.

     The NLN promotes H.R. 2043 and voices that it is an imperative piece of legislation needed to increase nursing education which will lead to reform of the current health care system. Their research has shown that the main reason for the impending shortage is that today's nursing faculty are aging and overworked and there is greater financial incentive to work in the clinical setting than teach in a nursing program. The political influence of the NLN is crucial to the passing of this and many other health related bills as they are comprised of nurses and health care professional who have an inside perspective on the heath care system and the changes that need to made.
This information was taken from the National League for Nurses' Public Policy Agenda which can be viewed at:  http://www.nln.org/aboutnln/shortage_info.htm

With the H.R. 2043: Nurse Education, Expansion,and Development Act of 2009, the government plans to give out grants to fund schools to allow them to hire more faculty and equipment. The money will be given on a per student basis, and the type of program the student is enrolled in will also be taken into consideration. Many requirements must be followed such as: accredidation, NCLEX passing rates and amount of time each student spends through a program. In response, the nursing schools must show the government that they are spending the money wisely and they need to show improvement based on at least two criteria listed in the bill.

The need for the change in this policy is very clear. In the school year of 2008-2009 there were 62.8 percent of schools of nursing that had 1 to 16 vacant faculty positions, and there were also 17.8 percent of the schools needing additional faculty, but did not have the resources needed in order to add more positions. Because of this, there were almost 50,000 undergraduate students who qualified to be in a nursing program who were not granted a position because there were not enough faculty to teach them. The impact of gaining more trained faculty would allow these programs to admit more students and therefore produce more working nurses. This is important because there is a projected shortage of nurses and faculty in the next 10 years based on retirement rates, which are currently increasing as the baby boomer generation gets older. With these changes, our nation can be confident that the nursing profession will continue to increase in both graduating undergrad nurses as well as masters or doctorate prepared nurses that are able to teach.
Information on this bill can be found at:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-2043

Nurse Education, Expansion, and Development Act of 2009

H.R. 2043, Nurse Education, Expansion, and Development Act of 2009, currently referred to House Committee on Energy and Commerce amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). This will increase the number of nursing faculty and students to each eligible school of nursing. H.R. 2043’s plan includes expanding an accelerated baccalaureate degree nursing program to new nurses, increasing enrollment, and developing graduate residency programs. Additionally, H.R. 2043 will require congress to be informed of the financial concerns of higher education nursing faculty instructors.

Based on our current knowledge of the nursing faculty shortage, we support H.R. 2043. Nursing schools are turning away thousands of eligible nursing students due to limited staffing, financial resources, and clinical experiences. Not only are there faculty shortages therefore educating less future nurses, but the nursing shortage continues to grow. As the baby boomers are getting older, more nurses are retiring while more individuals are requiring nursing care. Ultimately, the number of graduating nurses will not be sufficient to fill the positions needed. This could be detrimental to national health care because there could be increased emergency waiting time, etc.

If this bill were to pass, major improvements could be made in the availability and quality of education and care. The increase in admissions, enrollment, and retention of nursing students will increase the number of graduating nurses. Additionally, the increase of nursing residency programs will ensure that new grad nurses are well-rounded and better prepared.

"Bill summary and status." The library of congress. Thomas, 22 Apr. 2009. Web. 10 Oct. 2010. .