NCC Outlines Priorities for Future Congressional Aid

In an April 28 letter to Congressional leaders, the Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) thanked Congress for including top NCC priorities in the CARES Act. These included funding for personal protective equipment, reauthorizing the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs, authorizing some advanced practice nurses to certify home health care services, and strengthening the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. Moving forward, the NCC called on Congress to protect and support nurses battling COVID-19; include nursing associations in future aid packages to small businesses; invest in nursing research; strengthen public health with long-term investments as well as short-term injections of cash; and increase funding for Title VIII. In a letter to Senate leaders, 11 Democratic senators supported this last NCC request, which calls for a minimum of $15 billion in supplemental funding for Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs and $5 billion for Nurse Corps Loan Repayment and Scholarship programs. AONL is one of 63 national nursing organizations that make up the NCC. (NCC letter, 4/28/20)