Investing in Nursing Programs
Contact your legislator and ask them to support funding for nursing programs!
In December 2022, Governor Youngkin announced his budget amendments for 2022, including $35 million to expand the number of clinicians and clinical settings for training nurses, and $10 million in nursing preceptors to train future nurses. We must ensure these investments stay in the budget!
In 2022, the General Assembly gave $1 million to the Virginia Department of Health for one year to provide financial incentives for otherwise unpaid preceptors who would provide the hands-on clinical instruction for advanced practice registered nurses* (APRNs). These preceptors can be physicians, nurse practitioners, or physician assistants.
Students are required to complete at least 500 clinical hours in order to graduate as an APRN. A clinical preceptorship is a supervised clinical experience which allows students to apply knowledge gained in the didactic portion of a program to clinical practice. In Virginia, an APRN preceptor may be a physician, physician’s assistant, or an APRN.
By continuing this funding, Virginia can significantly increase student enrollment and prioritize those in underserved areas, especially in high-demand fields such as psychiatric and primary care.
Use the following screens and information to send your legislators a personalized message in support of this issue!