HHS awards more than $13 million to help lessen nursing shortage

The Department of Health and Human Services Wednesday said it is has released $13.4 million in stimulus funding to help boost the nursing workforce in the United States.

A total of $8.1 million of the funding will help 100 registered nurses pay their nursing education debts. The remaining $5.3 million is for schools of nursing to help train 500 masters and doctoral nursing students who plan to become nurse faculty once they complete their education. The funds were made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which the president signed on Feb. 17. About 50,000 people interested in going to nursing school are turned away due to insufficient capacity at schools of nursing, the department said.

“The need for more nurses is great,” said Deputy Secretary Bill Corr, who made the announcement. “Over the next decade, nurse retirements and an aging U.S. population, among other factors, will create the need for hundreds of thousands of new nurses.”