Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) introduced S.1569 to expand our nation’s Advanced Practice Registered Nurse workforce

Abstract

Efforts to reform health care continue to provide new and exciting developments each day. The Center to Champion Nursing in America (CCNA) is pleased to report another advancement for the health care of Americans and nursing education. On Tuesday, August 4, 2009, Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) introduced S.1569 to expand our nation’s Advanced Practice Registered Nurse workforce. Like the Capps amendment recently introduced in the House of Representatives, if enacted the bill will ensure that Medicare payments for nursing education match the health care needs of current and future Medicare recipients. Once again, CCNA commends our colleagues for their hard work and the unprecedented coordination among AARP and several leading nursing organizations, including:

• American Academy of Nurse Practitioners
• American Association of Colleges of Nursing
• American Association of Nurse Anesthetists
• American College of Nurse Practitioners
• American College of Nurse-Midwives
• American Nurses Association
• National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
• National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties

In order to better meet the health care needs of Medicare recipients, Senator Stabenow’s proposal would revise the way Medicare pays for nursing education in two significant ways. It would expand the current focus to nursing education at the graduate level. It would also expand clinical education provided through Medicare funding to include home and community-based settings as well as hospitals, using affiliations between accredited schools of nursing and community-based health care settings.

To learn more about the issue, visit aarp.org.