Contact Your Legislator in Support of Investing in Nursing Programs and Growing the Workforce!

During the last General Assembly session, Virginia passed budget items that supported the nursing workforce, including:
SB 953 from Senator Favola and HB2548 from Delegate Rasoul. This bill requires the Virginia Community College System to develop and implement a common curriculum for practical nursing programs that aligns with and is transferable to registered nursing programs at public institutions. It also requires the System to establish a pathway of stackable nursing credentials.

HB 1860 from Delegates Price, Jones, and Willett. VNA negotiated a compromise approach to this legislation to allow nursing programs to request a waiver from the Board of Nursing to in some cases utilize a student to faculty ratio of greater than 10:1, if they can demonstrate the need and a plan for how it will be done safely.

155 #1c: This amendment provides funding to increase the number of nursing graduates by 30 each year through the JMU "Fast Flex" Nursing Program. The program will allow students to complete their core nursing course work in one calendar year, as opposed to two academic years, getting nurses in the field quicker. Classes, which will be delivered in a hybrid of on-campus and online formats, as well as clinical placements will take place on nights and weekends. The program will be open to anyone who has earned 36 credit hours, completed certain prerequisite courses, and met other criteria. Resources requested to launch this program will cover expenses related to program faculty, support staff, supplies, technology needs, and student scholarships.

172 #1c: This amendment provides funding to support the nursing program to educate the significant increase in nursing students at Radford University.

176 #1c: This amendment provides funding to support a Master's of Science in Nursing (MSN) with tracks for both Nursing Educators and Nurse Practitioners at the University of Mary Washington in the amount of $750,000.

271 #2c: This amendment adds $100,000 the second year from the general fund to increase funding for the Nurse Preceptor Incentive Program to increase the number of registered nurse clinical education opportunities in the field of anesthesiology. Language modifies the funding and adds anesthesiology as a specific area in which to establish new preceptor rotations for nursing students.)

271 #3c: This amendment directs the Virginia Department of Health to expand the Mary Marshall Scholarship Program to increase the number of nurses coming into the profession to address significant shortages, including allowing humanitarian parolees (foreign nationals who are allowed to enter the United States for urgent humanitarian reasons) as eligible participants and paying the fees for Virginians with a nursing degree from an international educational institution to be credentialed in order to practice.

283 #1c: This amendment provides $300,000 from the general fund the second year for the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) to implement recommendations from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC). Language would require VDH to report on its progress implementing recommendations made by the Department of Planning and Budget, the causes of issues with VDH-administered nursing incentive programs, and its progress on implementing recommendations made by JLARC. Funding is provided for VDH to hire 2.0 positions to support internal audit and information security audit functions. 

We must continue to support these necessary funding initiatives for the health & wellbeing of our communities and the nursing workforce
Virginia continues to experience an alarming shortage of healthcare professionals, especially in the nursing profession, while large numbers of nursing school applicants are being denied admission based not on merit, but rather on a lack of faculty and available clinical sites. It’s crucial that the commonwealth continue to invest in growing nursing education programs to increase enrollment and eliminate the staffing shortage. We should continue strengthening support for nursing faculty, clinical preceptors, the Earn While You Learn program, and the Nursing Workforce Center to ensure a high-quality nursing workforce for all Virginians. At the same time, these investments must be fully leveraged to reach as many students and future nurses as possible, while also advancing greater diversity in faculty and admissions so that the workforce truly reflects our communities.