Nursing Workforce Development

Nurse Education, Practice and Retention

Authorizing Legislation: Section 831 of the Public Health Service Act.

Program Description and Accomplishments

The purpose of the Nurse Education, Practice and Retention (NEPR) Program is to provide Federal funding to eligible entities for projects to strengthen capacity for nurse education and practice under three priority areas: Education, Practice and Retention. Nine separate purposes are clustered under these three areas. The NEPR Program was established in 1998. Eligible applicants must select one of the nine purposes under the three clusters. The purposes identified under the education priority area include: (1) expanding enrollment in baccalaureate nursing programs; (2) developing and implementing internships and residency programs; and (3) providing education in new technologies. The purposes identified under the practice priority area include: (1) establishing or expanding nursing practice arrangements; (2) providing care for underserved populations and other high risk groups; (3) continuing education to practice in the emerging health care system; and (4) developing cultural competencies for nurses. The purposes identified under the retention priority area include: (1) promoting advancement for nursing personnel through career ladder programs; and (2) improving the retention of nurses and enhancing patient care directly related to nursing activities. Grants and contracts are awarded to eligible institutions to strengthen the capacity for registered nurse education, practice and retention to address the registered nursing shortage.

The NEPR Program provides grant support for academic, service and continuing education projects designed to strengthen the nursing workforce and improve nurse retention and quality of patient care. This program directly serves eligible applicants such as schools of nursing, academic health centers, State or local governments, and other private or public entities determined appropriate by the Secretary. Schools of nursing must be accredited by a national nurse education accrediting agency or State approval agency recognized by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. Project participants impacted by this program are nursing students, nursing personnel and registered nurses.

In FY 2007, the NEPR Program funded 134 competitive and non-competitive continuation grants. This is consistent with previous Fiscal Years 2006 and 2005 with 138 and 141 funded grants respectively. The NEPR Program impacted 21,145 nursing students and registered nurses engaged in the 134 grant project activities. This program specifically addresses enhancing the educational mix and utilization of the nursing workforce by supporting innovative approaches to shape the nursing workforce. The NEPR Program facilitates flexibility in meeting local/regional nursing needs as identified in the priorities referenced in the legislation, including enhancing career ladder programs for career advancement in nursing, expanded baccalaureate education, supporting internships and residency programs to facilitate the transition from student to graduate and retention initiatives to keep experienced nurses in the workforce.

Also, in FY 2007, the NEPR Program entered into a contract to evaluate the Internship and Mentor purpose grants. This evaluation will hopefully identify the parameters that will lead to improved recruitment and retention of graduate nurses in their first professional roles, RNs changing nursing specialties and RNs re-entering nursing practice.

Most of the Health Professions Title VII and Title VIII PHS Act programs were reviewed as a unit in 2002 using the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART). This program was included in that assessment. See Summary of the Request.

Funding includes costs associated with grant reviews, processing of grants through the Grants Administration Tracking and Evaluation System (GATES) and HRSA’s electronic handbook, and follow-up performance reviews.

Funding History

Budget Request
The FY 2009 Request of $37,291,000 is an increase of $651,000 above the FY 2008 Enacted level. The increase will support 3 additional Career Ladder Projects benefiting 27 additional participants. The total request will support 33 new Baccaluareate nursing students, 2,585 additional primary care encounters in nurse practice arrangements, and 39 internship and residency nurse participants. The total request will be used to support targeted initiatives focusing on faculty development, informatics, baccalaureate education, and three statutory funding preference purposes (developing and implementing internship and residency programs; promoting career advancement for nursing personnel and; improving the retention of nurses and enhancing patient care that is directly related to nursing activities).

Funding will specifically address enhancing the educational mix and utilization of the nursing workforce by supporting innovative approaches to shape the nursing workforce. Funding facilitates flexibility in meeting local/regional nursing needs as identified in the priorities referenced in the legislation, including enhancing career ladder programs for career advancement in nursing, expanding baccalaureate education, supporting internships and residency programs to facilitate the transition from student to graduate and retention initiatives to keep experienced nurses in the workforce.

NA – Not Applicable