use of public funds and indiscriminate construction of facilities for teaching Lursing. Final approval of grants should be made by the Surgeon General with the advice of a National Advisory Council. The AHA recommended that Federal scholarships be equally available to students entering other educational programs than collegiate schools. There is very little public or private assistance available to nursing students in basic collegiate programs. The scholarships provided by H.R. 10042 are small in terms of the need but it is urgent that college-bound students be attracted to collegiate schools of nursing. The collegiate graduate is the source of leadership in nursing. If the limited resources are distributed equally among all students entering nursing, the recommendations of the Surgeon General's Consultant Group will not meet its objective. The AHA questions the effectiveness of the loan provision as a recruitment device. The loan provision in section 824 and the forgiveness clause in H.R. 10042 is thought definitely to increase the enrollment in collegiate schools of nursing. The low salaries of nurses make the repayment of loans extremely difficult. The AHA recommends that the National Advisory Council on Nurse Training. who would advise the Surgeon General in preparation of general regulations for administering the Nurse Training Act of 1964, represent diploma, associate degree, and collegiate schools of nursing in proportion to the total number of students enrolled in each school. The bill calls for a 16-member Advisory Council made up of representatives of the general public, various fields of nursing, higher and secondary education, hospitals, and other institutions. The Council as it is structured in the bill would not be weakened in favor of any one group and would deal objectively and on their own merit with grant requests. There are precedents for such a National Advisory Council in the Health Professions Educational Assistance Act, the professional nurse traineeship program, and the public health traineeship program. H.R. 10042 calls for the appointment of a Review Committee prior to July 1, 1967, to review programs authorized and make recommendations regarding their continuation, extension, and modification. The AHA believes such a Committee unnecessary and that the Advisory Council could fill this role. The Advisory Council could probably function in this role, but the advantage of a Review Committee would be that people other than those advising applications and general regulations would be making decisions concerning the effectiveness of the program and whether it should be continued, extended, or modified. The AHA recommends a new provision to underwrite the direct cost of all nursing schools. They propose a Federal-State program for matching grants. The appropriation to hospital schools alone would be $34 million a year with no assurance that these funds would be used to improve nursing education. It is believed that Federal assistance to improve and expand nursing education should come through a system of grants for specific purposes. Such a proposal as that of the AHA might defeat H.R. 10042. As acting director of Goshen College School of Nursing, a member of the school of nursing faculty, and a citizen, I am interested in the education of nursing students on a sound educational basis that will meet the health needs of our Nation in the most effective and economical way. I believe that H.R. 10042 is designed to do this, and if altered to include the proposals made by the American Hospital Association, might meet the staffing needs of specific hospitals, but would not meet the health needs and be in the best interests of the American people at large. I would therefore urge that you give your support to the passage of the bill, H.R. 10042, the Nurse Training Act of 1964, without the proposals made by the American Hospital Association. Sincerely yours, VERNA M. ZIMMERMAN, Acting Director, Goshen College School of Nursing. OHIO STATE NURSES ASSOCIATION. Hon. OREN HARRIS, Chairman, House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. DEAR MR. HARRIS: The Ohio State Nurses Association, an organization of approximately 11,000 registered nurses endorses the position of the American Nurses' Association on the provisions of H.R. 10042, the Nurse Training Act of 1964, as presented to the Subcommittee on Public Health and Safety on April 9, 1964, by Margaret B. Dolan, R.N., ANA president. The Ohio State Nurses Association strongly supports this legislation which would provide construction grants for schools of nursing, extension of the professional nurse traineeship program, planning grants, and project grants to enable schools of nursing to strengthen, improve, and expand programs for nursing education. The need for qualified faculty prepared at the master's level is most acute in Ohio schools of nursing. In the existing 57 schools, there are unfilled 13 administrators' and 74 instructors' positions according to the January 1964 survey conducted by the Ohio State Board of Nursing Education and Nurse Registration. Records of the State board of nursing also reveal that 48 percent of the full-time instructors presently employed in Ohio schools of nursing have little or no preparation in nursing beyond the basic program and no special preparation for teaching. Thus, many persons teaching nursing in this State are themselves in great need of additional education in order to be able to properly prepare the practitioners of nursing who give direct patient care. In Ohio hospitals associated with schools of nursing or affiliate programs, there are 26 administrators, 179 supervisors and head nurses, and 861 general staff nurse positions unfilled. Known vacancies in these hospitals total 1,066. This figure does not take into account budgeted positions unfilled in the nearly 200 Ohio hospitals not associated with a school of nursing or affiliate programs. Clearly substantial Federal aid, such as embodied in the Nurse Training Act of 1964, is needed if nursing is to meet the standards for safe and effective nursing care as set forth by the Surgeon General's Consultant Group on Nursing. We urge your wholehearted support and prompt committee action on this legislation and respectfully request that our communication be included in the record. Sincerely, DOROTHY A, CORNELIUS, R.N., Executive Director. ILLINOIS NURSES' ASSOCIATION, Representative OREN HARRIS, Chairman, House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, DEAR REPRESENTATIVE HARRIS: Since Illinois, as well as many other States. urgently needs more nurses, I am writing you again to tell you that the Illinois Nurses' Association fervently hopes you will be successful in obtaining prompt passage of H.R. 10042. We are especially eager to have this bill passed before June 30. Unless it is, the professional nurse traineeship program will expire, and this could have a disastrous effect on the health of the Nation. Perhaps it may help you in your efforts to obtain early passage if we set forth, here, some of the reasons for our concern. In Illinois, alone 59 percent of non-Federal hospitals have unfilled general duty nurse positions. 1,410 of them have full-time general duty nurse vacancies. 20 percent have unfilled head nurse positions. 125 full-time vacancies exist for head nurses. 74 unfilled faculty positions are reported by diploma schools of nursing. 6 percent of our graduating high school seniors should enter basic nursing programs if the health needs of the State are to be met. 20 percent of our student nurses should be educated in baccalaureate programs if we are to meet minimum needs for head nurses, public health nurses, and instructors. Illinois has about 225 registered nurses per 100,000 population, but we need at least 300 per 100,000 population. Unfortunately, Illinois loses many of the nurses it educates. It might be able to keep more of its young graduates, though, and attract others from out of State if (1) more scholarship funds were available so that diploma school graduates could start work toward their B.S.N. degree and (2) if more master's programs were available to prepare baccalaureate graduates for teaching, supervision, and administration. If you think it pertinent, we shall be pleased to have you include these statisties on Illinois health and nursing needs in the record. The Illinois Nurses' Association appreciates your interest and efforts in behalf of this bill and the health of the Nation. Sincerely, Sister M. STEPHEN, Chairman, Committee on Legislation. THE UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT, Hon. OREN HARRIS, Chairman, House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, DEAR MR. HARRIS: As a recipient of a professional nurse traineeship which enabled me to qualify for my present job in teaching nursing, I wish to comment in favor of the passage of H.R. 10042, the Nursing Training Act of 1964. We are fortunate to be living during times when scientific discovery and medical progress are making possible longer, more productive lives for citizens of this country. The implications of medical advancements on nursing are obvious in that the professional nurse is required to be more skilled and knowledgeable to implement the newer concepts in care. The report of the Surgeon General's Consultant Group on Nursing entitled "Toward Quality in Nursing" details the Nation's needs for many more nurses than nursing schools can produce with their existing facilities and as Mrs. Mullane so aptly stated "nursing has not often been distinguished by being placed at the top of lists of priority needs." Indeed at the local and State level, we more often find ourselves at the lower level of the budgetary priority list though high on the priority for service. The construction grants contained in this act are essential to increase the number of educational institutions. And brick and mortar are not enough. The provision for extending the professional nurse traineeship program is essential to attract qualified applicants to enter the fields of teaching, supervision, and administration so that nursing can keep pace with the changing health needs of our citizens not just in getting people well but in keeping them well. The average income of a graduate professional nurse is not sufficient to enable her to seek advanced education without financial assistance. As chairman of the Committee on Nursing Careers for the State of Vermont, I hear of too many Vermont students who, though having the capabilities to enter a collegiate nursing program, must settle for a 3-year program because of limited funds. This I consider a waste of talent and no help to our need to improve quality of care. The provision for establishment of a loan fund for fulltime students is also essential and I feel the forgiveness provision would be an additional incentive. I have read the testimony of Mrs. Mullane and Mrs. Dolan who, as representatives of our professional organization, have stated the reasons to justify passage of H.R. 10042 much more adequately than I. The impact of the provisions of H.R. 10042 go beyond the nursing profession itself-passage will enable the nursing profession to make its own unique contribution to the changing patterns of health care. Physicians, hospitals, and citizens are depending on us. We are depending on the action of your committee. Thank you for your kind consideration. Very truly yours, FAITH G. EMERSON, Assistant Professor of Nursing. (Whereupon, at 3:45 p.m., the committee was adjourned, to recon vene at the call of the Chair.) BY DISABLED PERSONS HEARING BEFORE A SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES EIGHTY-EIGHTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON H.R. 827 A BILL TO AMEND THE INTERSTATE COMMERCE ACT TO COMMITTEE ON INTERSTATE AND FOREIGN COMMERCE OREN HARRIS, Arkansas, Chairman JOHN BELL WILLIAMS, Mississippi SAMUEL N. FRIEDEL, Maryland LEO W. O'BRIEN, New York JOHN E. MOSS, California JOHN D. DINGELL, Michigan PAUL G. ROGERS, Florida ROBERT W. HEMPHILL, South Carolina HORACE R. KORNEGAY, North Carolina GILLIS W. LONG, Louisiana LIONEL VAN DEERLIN, California JOHN B. BENNETT, Michigan J. ARTHUR YOUNGER, California JOHN BELL WILLIAMS, Mississippi, Chairman SAMUEL N. FRIEDEL, Maryland ROBERT W. HEMPHILL, South Carolina WILLIAM L. SPRINGER, Illinois SAMUEL L. DEVINE, Ohio ABNER W. SIBAL, Connecticut |