Immediate Legislative Action Needed for Nursing Education Funding

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Email received from PSNA regarding legislative support for Nursing education and loan repayment. Karen

To contact the Pennsylvania State Nurses Association regarding this update please call 1-888-707-7762 or e-mail [email protected]. You can also get connected to PSNA on the World Wide Web at http://www.psna.org.

Immediate Legislative Action Needed

On February 16, Representatives, Lois Capps (D-CA) and Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) sent a letter to every member of the House of Representatives asking their fellow Members of the House to support a letter to President Bush urging him to demonstrate support for nurse education programs. ANA is urging all CMA members and nursing supporters to contact their state Representative and ask him to sign on to the letter being sent to President Bush in support of funding for the Nurse Education Act and loan repayment program.

The letter to President Bush requests that he include specific increase for nurse education activities in his FY 2002 budget proposal. This budget request is the first phase of ANA's efforts to increase FY 2002 federal funding for nurse education

programs. ANA's chances for success will be greatly increased if the President's budget includes ANA's funding target.

Your support for the Capps/McCarthy effort is needed immediately, as they plan to submit their request to the President on February 22! Call your state rep today. If you do not know who your state rep is, call 1-888-vote-smart or visit their web site at http://www.votesmart.org.

For more information contact Erin McKoen [phone] or Kim Zimmerman [phone] at the ANA headquarters.

Copy of letter available at: http://www.psna.org/legislation/repletter.htm

[This message has been edited by NRSKarenRN (edited February 21, 2001).]

[kirby121]

Your web address dosn't work?? I would love to pass this info on to my fellow RN's !!

[oramar]

This is really important. One of the ways to avert looming demographic shortage is to recruit from non traditional areas. This means non white middle class females, these people need to be attracted by promises of better life through nursing. They need a huge amt. of finacial aid because they are to poor to pay the price of tuition. Lord knows middle class white females are buckling under the burden of student loans. One way to keep them at the bedside is to have goverment loan forgivness for every year people stay at the bedside. Heh, that is a good idea, I guess I will have to write congressman Miluski again. Our Pa governor want to forgive loans if nurses who graduate in Pa practice in Pa. However that does not solve the problem of leaving the bedside.