AWHONN Leader Visits Legislators in Washington, DC

President-Elect Barbra Moran visited the offices of Senator John Warner (VA-R), Senator James Webb (VA-D), and Representative Thomas Davis (VA-R) to advocate for increased federal funding for Title VIII Nursing Workforce Programs. These programs include loan repayment and scholarship opportunities for nurses.

One program within Title VIII, called the Nurse Faculty Loan Program, aims to help to alleviate the nurse faculty shortage. Moran, an assistant professor in the School of Nursing at The Catholic University of America, witnesses the impacts of faculty shortage firsthand. In 2006 alone, US nursing schools turned away more than 40,000 qualified applicants to nursing programs due to a lack of faculty.

At each meeting, Moran discussed the nursing shortage crisis, the importance of new faculty, and asked that Congress fund Title VIII programs at $170 million in fiscal year 2008 in order to assure that America's health care needs will be met.

Moran, along with a variety of health professionals also attended a lunch briefing on Capitol Hill sponsored by the Health Professions and Nursing Education Coalition entitled, "Who Will Care for You? How the Title VII & VIII Programs Improve the Supply, Distribution, and Diversity of the Health Professions Workforce." Staff members from nearly 20 Congressional offices attended the briefing signaling a strong interest in the programs.

An update on Title VIII funding will be included in the Fall 2007 issue of Legislative News & Views.