Nurse Loan Forgiveness Act of 2007: Further Support and Political Action

Summary of Nurse Loan Forgiveness Act of 2007

"Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to include, under HEA student loan forgiveness and cancellation programs, nurses who: (1) serve at least one calender year in an approved health care facility or setting; or (2) have a Masters of Science in Nursing and are nursing instructors in the school of nursing.

Limits the maximum amount of such loan repayment by the Secretary of Education to $2,000 after the first year of a nurse's employment, with incremental increases after the second through fourth years, up to $5,000 after the fifth year" (GovTrack, 2007).
To see complete Bill:
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/gpoxmlc110/h2572_ih.xml

The Need for the Nurse Loan Forgiveness Act

According to 2005 statistics from the American Hospital Association, “118,000 nurses are needed to fill vacancies at our nation's hospitals, and more than 75 percent of all hospital personnel vacancies are for nurses” (AHA.org, 2006).
According to a study by the Department of Health and Human Services in 2002, the United States will experience a 29 percent shortage in the number of nurses needed in the United States health care system by the year 2020, which translates into a shortage of more than 400,000 registered nurses nationwide (Schwarz 2003).
Research indicates that there is a great need for health care services, especially hospitals and prescription drugs, but there continues to be a 28 percent decrease in national licensure examination for all entry-level registered nurses (GovTrack, 2007).
The Department of Labor projects a 29 percent increase in the need for nurses nationwide from 2004 to 2014, compared with a 13 percent increase for all other occupations (GovTrack, 2007).
The General Accounting Office estimates that 40 percent of all registered nurses will be older than age 50 by the year 2010 (GovTrack, 2007).

The enactment of the Nurse Loan Forgiveness Act:
1. Will encourage individuals to enter and continue in
the nursing profession, and
2. Will encourage experienced nurses to instruct
nurses entering the profession, and
3. Will reward such individuals for their service in
the nursing profession by reducing the burden of
student debt.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Further Support and Political Action

As nursing students we strongly support this bill for multiple reasons. Our main drive for support is that we feel responsible for the implementation of safe and efficient care of our patients, and we believe this bill plays a large role in securing these priorities. There is already evidence of a growing nursing shortage. It has been projected that there will be a nursing shortage of 800,000 jobs by 2020 (Johnson & Johnson, 2002-2006). This shortage continues to exacerbate as the number of active nurses is decreasing and the number of graduating nurses are unable to fill the vacancies. A poll done by the American Nurse journal in 2008 showed that 73% of nurses polled, found staffing on their unit to be inadequate, and 51.9 % of nurses these nurses are leaving their current jobs do to insufficient staffing. In addition, burnout is on the rise. The same article stated that when polled 82% of nurses said they put patient care before their own personal safety. These statistics put a damper on our enthusiasm to become in involved in the U.S. healthcare system. We do not want to enter a poorly staffed health system for many reasons. As nurses we rely on one another. Collaboration is essential to provide our patients with the care that they deserve. With a shortage in nursing personnel we lose our ability to communicate effectively due to unacceptable workload and increased levels of stress. We believe that if this bill becomes law access to nursing programs will increase due to decreased financial burdens. In addition, this bill would help provide access to nursung schools granting BSN degrees. BSN programs are founded on the principle of evidenced based practice. With a decrease in BSN educated nurses collaboration is negatively affected and we cannot provide adequate care. Without this level of care our careers and our patient’s lives are at risk due to mistakes. We want to see educated coworkers who also support higher education. A higher education not only enhances patient care but it also increases the economy of our communities.

To take political action we plan to contact stakeholders and refer them to this blog in order to further educate them on the need for action. We also plan to write to legislators in our area. Further research will be done on this topic, and data collected will be posted and shared and discussed with other nursing students.

2 comments:

Katie Shaffer said...: As a fellow nursing student, I support this bill. I believe you are correct in speculating that a decreased financial burden will be followed by an increase in nursing school interest and number of applicants. I have heard first hand from a number of my peers about the lofty loans they are accumulating while completing nursing school. Luckily these individuals are perusing their desire to go into the nursing profession however I am sure many have been turned away due to financial constraints. I hope this bill will go on to encourage an increase in nursing students and continued nursing education.; October 14, 2008 at 2:55 PM
Unknown said...: I also support this bill due to the fact it has the potential to relieve the nursing shortage. A major factor contributing to the nursing shortage is the lack of qualified educators while there may be nurses who have the passion to pursue higher education. However, they may not have the finances available to go back to school. If we have the financial assistance available to nurses to obtain more education, we would also be producing more nurse educators. There are many steps to relieve the nursing shortage, but I believe providing financial assistance is a crucial first step!; October 16, 2008 at 1:28 PM