Help with Reading HR 2536

[KateRN1]

So I'm weeding through this proposed bill, trying to figure out what it is really offering. Sec.832 has a bunch of information about capitation grants, but I am stymied as to whether this is for domestic use or for the training of foreign nurses. Can someone with more bill-reading power than me please distill it for me?

Thanks!

[elkpark]

I know that there are other, older threads here discussing this bill -- you could use the name of the bill and the "search" button in the upper R hand corner of the screen to try to find them, and see what has already been discussed about it.

[KateRN1]

Thanks, I have read most of them, which is why I was reading the text of the bill myself. I'm not too savvy with this sort of thing, which is why I was asking for help about the wording and the placement of the capitation section. I cannot for the life of me make out whether this is aimed at foreign-trained nurses or domestic.

[DolceVita, ADN, BSN, RN]

The grants are for the colleges in the USA.

[elkpark]

I'm certainly no expert at bill-reading, either, but my own cynical impression I've gotten based on what I know of this bill is that the language about fees being charged for importing foreign nurses being used to benefit US nursing education is an effort to make the bill (and the idea of importing foreign nurses to take US nursing jobs) more palatable to the many legislators who are not supportive of bringing more foreign nurses into the US -- it's an attempt to make it look like bringing in the foreign nurses is really going to help US nurses (instead of helping the private businesses who want to be able to import foreign nurses to keep nursing wages and working conditions poor in their facilities ...)

[KateRN1]

Thanks. I can't make heads nor tails of this thing as it's worded, but that's true of most legislation as well. I see some good stuff in there about promoting advanced degrees to allow more nurses to get into education, but nothing about promoting the graduates we already have who are not working as nurses. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that no one involved with this bill has a good handle on the nursing situation.

[DolceVita, ADN, BSN, RN]

nothing about promoting the graduates we already have who are not working as nurses.

I am not sure what you mean by this. Are you talking about this bill addressing the issue of some new grads not finding work easily or something else?

[KateRN1]

Definitely not addressing the issue of new grads not finding work (easily or otherwise). I'd like to see some sort of program that addresses the difficulty that new nurses have in securing an entry-level position. Something that promotes the creation of paid nurse-externships, new grad training programs, those sorts of things. It seems to me that the problem is not a shortage of nurses, but rather a shortage of experienced nurses (if there is indeed a shortage at all--that's questionable as well). If we had a system in place to mentor and further train new nurses, providing them with that all-important experience, we'd be far better off than importing nurses who are "experienced" but in a completely different healthcare delivery model.

I realize that some areas do have a demonstrated need for nurses, and some hospitals just can't seem to hire nurses, but in those cases I think it's often a matter of what they're offering rather than a true shortage. And some places keep a shortage on the books for other financial reasons, as well. But that's another topic entirely.

[DolceVita, ADN, BSN, RN]

It would be interesting to have residency-type programs. I know something like this exists in some hospitals.