From the AAACN Legislative Team, below is a summary of all the latest Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) initiatives AAACN has supported in November-December 2020.
AAACN, NCC Welcome the 117th Congress
The Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) welcomed Senators and Representatives to the 117th Congress and summarized our shared priorities to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, invest in Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development programs, and bolster nursing research.
The NCC embraces the opportunity to collaborate with the new Congress to support our nursing workforce.
Read the Senate letter Read the House letter
AAACN Supports NCC Letter to Congressional Leadership Reinforcing COVID-19 Priorities
Fifty-nine NCC members, including AAACN, urged Congressional leadership to include the following nursing priorities in any pandemic legislative relief package:
- Protection and support RNs and APRNs on the frontlines, including an adequate supply of PPE, compensation and support essential workers (including safety measures, mental health resources, and childcare funding)
- Increase in funding for Title VIII nursing workforce development programs, which ensure the health and well-being of all communities, particularly in rural and underserved areas
- Support for nursing education infrastructure, urging Congress to pass the Future Advancement of Academic Nursing (FAAN) Act, which supports health professions’ education
- Strengthen investments in public health through funding to strengthen the public health nursing workforce and long-term investments in a national public health service pipeline of nurses
- Investment in nursing research; promote access to telehealth by addressing limitations and increasing coverage.
AAACN Signs On to NCC Letter to Appropriators Updating FY 2021 Funding Requests
Sixty-two members of the NCC signed a letter to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees requesting at minimum $269.972 for Title VIII Nursing Workforce and Development Programs, and at least $177.976 for the National Institute of Nursing Research for Fiscal Year 2021.
The organizations also urged the committees to consider additional supplemental funding to bolster these programs.
NCC Sends Letter to Biden-Harris Transition Team
All 63 members of the Nursing Community Coalition (NCC) sent a letter to the Biden-Harris Transition Team, offering support and welcoming the opportunity to collaborate and serve as a resource to the Biden Administration.
The letter requests the Transition Team include nurses in all aspects of the pandemic response, in all conversations, and with any taskforces, commissions, committees, councils, and federal boards.
Additionally, the letter advocated for Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs and National Institute of Nursing Research.