From http://thomas.loc.gov/ (THANK YOU, Karen, for the link)!!
From the 107th Congress:
H. R. 822, Medicare Certified Registered Nurse First Assistant Direct Reimbursement Act of 2001 (Introduced in House), To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage under the Medicare Program for surgical first assisting services of certified registered nurse first assistants stalled in subcommittee since 3/14/2001
S. 1585, Hospital-Based Nursing Initiative Act of 2001 (Introduced in Senate), To establish grant and scholarship programs to enable hospitals to retain and further educate their nursing staffs. stalled in subcommittee since 10/30/2001
S. 1686, Safe Nursing and Patient Care Act of 2001 (Introduced in Senate), To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by limiting the number of mandatory overtime hours a nurse may be required to work in certain providers of services to which payments are made under the medicare program. stalled in subcommittee since 11/14/2001
H. R. 3238, Safe Nursing and Patient Care Act of 2001 (Introduced in House), To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for patient protection by limiting the number of mandatory overtime hours a nurse may be required to work in certain providers of services to which payments are made under the Medicare Program. stalled in subcommittee since 11/14/2001
H. R. 3594, Medicaid Nursing Incentive Act of 2001 (Introduced in House), To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to improve access to advanced practice nurses under the Medicaid Program. stalled in subcommittee since 12/28/2001
H. R. 3589, To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to eligible entities to implement and evaluate demonstrations of models and best practices in nursing care and to develop innovative strategies for retention of professional nurses. stalled in subcommittee since 12/28/2001
H. R. 1897, Nurse of Tomorrow Act of 2001 (Introduced in House), To amend the Public Health Service Act and the Internal Revenue Code to help solve the worsening shortage of registered nurses in hospitals and continuing care settings, and for other purposes.
stalled in subcommittee since 6/1/2001
H. R. 4715, Nursing Home Staffing Improvement Act of 2002 (Introduced in House), To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to establish minimum requirements for nurse staffing in nursing facilities receiving payments under the Medicare or Medicaid Program. stalled in subcommittee since 6/3/2002
H. R. 5576, Department of Veterans Affairs Nurse Preceptor Pilot Program Act (Introduced in House), To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for a pilot program to be conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs to assess the benefits of establishing a nurse preceptor program. stalled in subcommittee since 10/8/2002
S.1188, A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to enhance the authority of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to recruit and retain qualified nurses for the Veterans Health Administration, and for other purposes. stalled at Congress calendar since 10/10/2001 Senate preparation for floor.
H. R. 3602, Certified Nurse Midwifery Medicare Services Act of 2001 (Introduced in House), To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for reimbursement of certified midwife services, to provide for more equitable reimbursement rates for certified nurse -midwife services, and for other purposes. stalled in subcommittee since 12/28/2001
S. CON. RES. 5, Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the United States Army Nurse Corps. stalled in subcommittee since 1/30/2001
H.R.3487, Nurse Reinvestment Act (Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both House and Senate), To amend the Public Health Service Act with respect to health professions programs regarding the field of nursing. 8/1/2002 Became Public Law No: 107-205.
S. 863, Patient Safety Act of 2001 (Introduced in Senate), To require medicare providers to disclose publicly staffing and performance in order to promote improved consumer information and choice. stalled in subcommittee since 5/10/2001
S. 3008, Teacher and Nurse Support Act of 2002 (Introduced in Senate), To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to expand the loan forgiveness and loan cancellation programs for teachers, to provide loan forgiveness and loan cancellation programs for nurses, and for other purposes. stalled in subcommittee since 9/26/2002
H. R. 4654, Nurse Retention and Quality of Care Act of 2002 (Introduced in House), To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide programs to improve nurse retention, the nursing workplace, and the quality of care. stalled in subcommittee since 5/17/2002
H.R.5565, Senior Safety Protection Act of 2002 (Introduced in House), To amend the Social Security Act with respect to the employment of persons with criminal backgrounds by long-term care providers. stalled in subcommittee since 10/7/2002
H. R. 3331, Quality Care for Nursing Home Patients Act of 2001 (Introduced in House), To amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to impose requirements with respect to staffing in nursing facilities receiving payments under the Medicare or Medicaid Program. stalled in subcommittee since 12/10/2001
S.721, A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a Nurse Corps and recruitment and retention strategies to address the nursing shortage, and for other purposes. stalled in subcommittee since 11/1/2001
S. RES. 314, Expressing the sense of the Senate that a commemorative postage stamp should be issued commemorating registered nurses. stalled in subcommittee since 9/25/2002
S. 53, To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage of services provided by nursing school clinics under State Medicaid programs. (Introduced in Senate). stalled in subcommittee since 1/22/2001
S. 728, Medicare and Medicaid Nursing Services Quality Improvement Act of 2001 (Introduced in Senate), To establish a demonstration project to waive certain nurse aide training requirements for specially trained individuals who perform certain specific tasks in nursing facilities participating in the medicare or medicaid programs, and to conditionally authorize the use of resident assistants in such nursing facilities. stalled in subcommittee since 4/6/2001
S.1054 , A bill to amend titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to prevent abuse of recipients of long-term care services under the Medicare and Medicaid programs. stalled in subcommittee since 6/14/2001
This is a partial list of bills in the 107th session of Congress. I found 50 bills introduced to benefit nurses and patients by doing a search on the keyword "nurse." There may be other bills. As I finish looking at the history of these bills, I can tell you honestly that my hands are shaking and tears are running down my face. I have never felt so disheartened about the nursing profession.
At this time of a severe crisis for nurses and patients, it seems that the only bill to pass Congress during this session was to provide funds to educate more nurses, and to produce Public Service Announcements ABOUT nurses. No bills to relieve the terrible conditions that causes the deaths of our patients, or to give us the most meager hope for the future of our profession. If you find this list as heinous and callously negligent to this crisis as I have today, I urge EVERY nurse, right this minute, TODAY, to write and phone your Senators and Congressman to express your disgust over their apparent disinterest to our profession. Too many bills, all of them, have entered the no-man's land of being referred to committees.
Please do not ever utter one more word of discontent about the nursing profession unless you have done that one little thing. WRITE YOUR SENATORS AND CONGRESSMAN TODAY.
Here is how to find out who your Congressman are:
http://www.congress.org/
Here's how to find out who your Representatives are:
http://www.house.gov/writerep/
Here's how to find out your Senators:
http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index_by_state.cfm
My God! Not a single bill passed to help us. We didn't even get the postage stamp.
