The Troops to Nurse Teachers Act, a bipartisan Senatebill that would boost the number of military nursing teachers in civilian nursingschools, is meeting some stiff resistance from a congressman. 

As a way to stem the nursing shortage, the bill wouldallow military nurses to teach at civilian nursing schools without leaving theservice. But Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO) has expressed concern over the shortage ofnurses in the military, and said removing nurses from the field duringwartime would be a mistake, according to www.politico.com.

But the bill’s sponsor, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) saidthat nurses would only be removed from duty if the needs of the military permit it.More than 40,000 qualified nursing students were turned away from schools dueto a lack of qualified teachers, according to the American Association of Collegesof Nurses. Twenty-eight nursing organizations support the bill.