More than $100 million will be invested by HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration to aid the nursing workforce shortage, officials said during an Aug. 10 press call.
"We don't have enough doctors or nurses who are practicing. We don't have enough psychologists or counselors to address the rising rates of substance use disorders. We don't have enough midwives, pharmacists and professional caregivers to meet the needs of Americans," Xavier Becerra, HHS secretary, said during the call.
The bulk of the support will be put toward training nurses who will work in primary care, maternal care and mental healthcare. The agency has allocated $34.8 million for the Advanced Nursing Education Workforce Program to train more nurses in these areas, and $30 million for the Advanced Nursing Education-Nurse Practitioner Residency and Fellowship Program to support residency and fellowship programs.
An additional $26.5 million will be put toward the Nurse Faculty Loan Program, which will support select nursing schools in providing low-interest loans and loan cancellations for nurse graduates to encourage more individuals to become nurse educators.
"We're really excited about the program," Carole Johnson, HRSA administrator, said. "It has the opportunity for us to address critical gaps."
Another $8.7 million will be put toward efforts to expand training access for more licensed practical nurses and licensed vocational nurses to become registered nurses.
"We're going to do everything we can to stand up [our] nurses and help those who wish to become nurses get through the process and not make the decision to forego nursing school because they can't afford it," Mr. Becerra said. "We're going to do everything we can to expand the number of nurses we have in the fields of mental health. And we're going to try to make sure that we address burnout."