Congresswoman Sends Letter to Biden Pushing Strategy To Tackle The Nursing Shortage

The ongoing nursing shortage. Old news. 

Lawmakers promising to make a difference. Older news. 

But unfortunately, neither is going away anytime soon. 

A few days before the New Year, Delaware Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester sent a letter to the Biden Administration to draw attention to the ongoing nursing shortage and figure out the next steps. 

Congresswoman Blunt Rochester, a Democratic member of the House Health Subcommittee, sent the letter specifically to the Office of Management and Budget specifically “to develop a coordinated national strategy to address the nursing workforce shortage impacting the health care sector.” The letter wants the Administration to outline a coordinated national strategy to address the shortage in the budget for the Fiscal Year 2024. 

Ideas proposed included, 

• Implementation of a national nursing-focused Health Workforce Research Center

• Support of state-based nursing workforce centers through funding

The letter comes months after Blunt Rochester’s introduction of National Nursing Workforce Center Act. The Act was introduced by a bipartisan team of legislators including, Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), and Congresswoman Young Kim (R-Calif.), along with Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). 

The Act proposed a three-year pilot program through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to support state-based nursing workforce centers. Furthermore, it would also broaden HRSA’s authority to establish Health Workforce Research Centers on any program under the Public Health Service Act and give HRSA clear authority to establish a nursing-focused research and technical assistance center under the Health Workforce Research Center Program.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated a nation-wide shortage of healthcare workers including registered nurses. As an integral part of our healthcare system, we must do all we can to support the recruiting and retention of nurses across the country – the quality of care depends on it,” said Blunt Rochester. “That’s why I am proud to introduce the National Nursing Workforce Center Act, a bipartisan & bicameral piece of legislation that will create a pilot program to establish state-based nursing workforce centers to focus on the education and training of nurses. This legislation provides a tangible solution to the ongoing nurse shortage while supporting our current nursing workforce and I’m hopeful Congress will work to pass this legislation as quickly as possible.”

Specifics of the bill include but are not limited to, 

• Establishing a fully-offset, sustainable pilot grant program through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to support state-based nursing workforce centers; 

• Broadening HRSA’s authority to establish Health Workforce Research Centers on any program under the Public Health Service Act, rather than just Title VII programs authorized under current statute; 

• Giving HRSA clear authority and a mandate to focus on nursing issues by requiring the agency to establish a nursing focused research and technical assistance center under the Health Workforce Research Center Program. 

• Requiring reports assessing this public-private partnership and if and how it should be expanded nationwide.

At this time, the Biden Administration has not released a statement regarding the letter or the bill.