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:

$36.9 Million for Nursing Programs

• $8M for Earn to Learn Nursing Education grant program
• $4M in funding for nursing scholarship programs
• $7M in funding for the Nursing Preceptor Incentive Program
• $14.7M for the behavioral health loan repayment program, including psychiatric RNs and APRNs
• $3.2M to support the Virginia Healthcare Workforce Development Authority 

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 growing support for nursing faculty, clinical preceptors, and the recently created Earn While You Learn program. Investments should also support greater diversity in faculty and admissions to ensure a future workforce that is truly reflective of our communities.