Senate Introduces Title VIII Reauthorization Act (S. 1399)

AORN joined 61 other members of the Nursing Community Coalition to send a letter to Senators Merkley and Burr to thank them for their introduction of the Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2019 (S.1399).

The Nursing Workforce Development programs were created by the Nurse Training Act of 1964. This bill was adopted with the intent to attract more people into the nursing profession and to address a nursing shortage that was leaving nearly 20 percent of nursing positions in hospitals unfilled.

The Title VIII Workforce Development programs created by the original Act, and which remain today, bolster nursing education at all levels and support institutions that educate nurses. In particular, Title VIII funding is critical to institutions that educate registered nurses in rural and medically underserved areas. Title VIII also provides grants for workforce diversity, geriatric education and to schools of nursing.

S. 1399 would reauthorize nursing workforce development programs through fiscal year 2024. AORN will continue to monitor this bill and advocate for its passage in the 116th Congress.