AHA urges Congress to support nursing workforce programs

The American Hospital Association (AHA) this week urged leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies to consider the potential effect their health care funding decisions for fiscal year 2022 will have on hospitals’ ability to care for their patients and communities. Among its requests was $530 million for the Nursing Workforce Development programs and $193 million for the National Institute of Nursing Research; both requests are supported by AONL. The AHA letter noted the Nursing Workforce Development programs “support nursing education but also seek to add diversity to the nursing profession and improve access in rural and underserved communities.”  The letter also pointed out the pandemic heightened the nursing shortage the United States was already facing. “It is imperative that funding for these programs reflects the heightened needs of our communities, especially as nurses across the country remain on the front lines of this public health crisis.” (AHA News article, 4/22/21)