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ANA applauds proposed education funding, but calls total insufficient

Nurse Leader Weekly, February 23, 2004

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Earlier this month, the American Nurses Association (ANA) commended President Bush for recognizing the need to fund programs to enhance the recruitment and retention of nurses, as outlined in the proposed fiscal year (FY) 2005 budget that he submitted to Congress on February 2.

The president's budget provides $147 million for nursing work force development programs, including the Nurse Reinvestment Act. That figure represents an increase of more than $5 million over the 2004 funding level. "The increasing need for a well-educated and professional nursing workforce has never been greater," said ANA President Barbara Blakeney, MS, APRN, BC, ANP. "With predictions of huge nursing shortages in the future, we applaud the president for investing in America's nurses at a time when many other programs are being cut," she added.

Bush's proposal is a step in the right direction, but this amount is insufficient to address the increasing nursing shortage, the ANA said. The ANA, along with other nursing organizations, is requesting $205 million for the nursing work force development programs of Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act.

The president's FY 2005 budget proposal includes $32 million for loan repayments and scholarships (an increase of more than $5 million over last year); $21 million for nursing diversity programs (a nearly $5 million increase); and $8 million for geriatric nurse education and nurse faculty loan-repayment programs.

The proposed budget also reflects some redistribution of funding between basic and advanced nursing education. "ANA wholeheartedly supports programs aimed at attracting new people into the nursing profession, but also recognizes the strong need for programs that retain and support our advanced practice nurses," Blakeney said.

ANA also commended the president's proposed funding level of $139 million for the National Institute of Nursing Research (a $4 million increase) and a $4 million increase in funding for patient-safety efforts at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

ANA is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.7 million Registered Nurses through its 54 constituent associations. ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

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