Legislation Aims To Recruit Nurse Educators
March 17, 2009
By the Online Nursing Career Content Team – Find Top Nursing Programs Online!
Two members of Congress recently introduced legislation that would help more people pursue nursing careers by providing loan assistance to those who agree to become nurse educators for a fixed period of time.
Under the proposal by Reps. Tammy Baldwin and Tom Latham, participating nurses would be eligible for loan repayments of up to $40,000 if they obtain a master's degree, or $80,000 if they obtain a doctorate nursing degree. The graduates would then agree to spend at least four years in a six-year period teaching at nursing schools.
"We cannot train and retain skilled nurses without first ensuring sufficient numbers of qualified nursing instructors. This legislation offers a long-term solution to that problem," said Baldwin in a statement.
The lawmakers noted that a number of qualified applicants have been turned away from nursing programs because many schools lack the instructors and infrastructure to handle the increased number of people interested in the field.
Another obstacle to recruiting more nurse instructors is said to be a 20 percent lower average salary for educators than nurses in clinical practice, which the current bill hopes to address.
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