Joyce introduces bipartisan bill to continue federal programs that grow nursing workforce

Federal programs that help meet nursing workforce demands and boost the nation’s quality of care would be reauthorized under bipartisan legislation recently introduced by U.S. Rep. David Joyce (R-OH).

Joyce’s bill would reauthorize Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development programs, which have improved nursing education standards and have provided financial support to nursing students, education programs and established nurses for more than 50 years.

The employment of registered nurses is forecast to grow 19 percent from 2012 to 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Job openings for nurses will total more than 1 million by 2022 due to the expected demand and replacement needs in the workforce.

“The nursing profession is especially dear to my family as my wife, Kelly, has been an RN at UH Geauga for the last 26 years, and we’ve seen first-hand the critical role nurses play in their patients’ and patients’ families’ lives,” Joyce, the co-chair of the House Nursing Caucus, said.

Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development programs provided loans, scholarship and programmatic support to more than 450,000 nursing students between 2006 and 2012. Joyce’s bill, the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act, would ensure that support continues into the future.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank my co-chair of the nursing caucus, U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), for working in a bipartisan manner, and especially the nursing community,” Joyce said. “Their coalition of 63 national nurses organizations are the very definition of grassroots as these are just everyday nurses trying to make a difference in people’s lives.”