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RE,MARKS BY: TOMMY G. THOMPSON, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES PLACE: Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. DATE: September 28, 2001
Dean Keltner has for a long time been a leading champion of nursing education, and I so appreciate her wonderful work here at Georgetown.
The Georgetown School of Nursing is one of the premier nursing schools in the country, so it's a fitting place for my colleagues and I to come to talk with you about one of America's most serious health problems, our growing shortage of nurses.
I want to also acknowledge some others who are with us today showing their support:
So, our purpose here today is twofold. First, we are here to honor these true American heroes who have responded so courageously and effectively to the attack on our fellow countrymen.
Second, we are here to discuss how we can support these brave men and women by addressing the nursing shortage we as a nation are facing.
If current trends continue, by 2020, the projected shortage will be slightly more than 500,000 nurses nationwide. That's just not acceptable, and this Administration is going to work to make sure that hospitals, clinics and community health centers have the nurses they need.
The nursing shortage in our country is increasing, and it places our system of medical care at risk. What nurses do is not celebrated, glamorous or easy. But nursing is compassionate, noble and essential to quality healthcare. That's why we're taking a number of steps to help remedy the shortage. One of them I'm announcing here today. My department has provided grants and contracts in the amount of $27.4 million to increase the number of nurses in our country.
This money is being used to encourage more young people to turn to nursing as a vocation and to foster higher quality nurse training in colleges and universities across America. Two of the grantees are here today, Catholic University and Georgetown University.
Of the money we're announcing today, more than $20 million has been devoted to building a stronger pool of nurses through undergraduate and graduate education and through encouraging greater diversity in the nursing force. Eighty-two colleges and universities and other related organizations are receiving funding.
Another $7.3 million is going to repay educational loans of clinical care nurses who are willing to working in specific public or nonprofit health care facilities that urgently need nurses.
But these grants, while important, are by no means a comprehensive solution. So, over the next year, I'm going to work with everyone who can take part in helping us meet this challenge successfully.
First, I'm going to look at the internal resources at H-H-S. I've asked my assistant secretary for planning and evaluation, Bobby Jindal, to examine what additional steps we can take to improve nursing education and enhance the nursing profession.
The folks in the planning and evaluation division of H-H-S will take the lead in this effort, working across the department to conduct a complete review of H-H-S's activities that deal with the nursing workforce. We're going to identify opportunities for strengthening our current programs and directing future actions.
Second, I'm looking outwardly, across the Administration. My friend and colleague Elaine Chao of the Labor Department in fact came to me first. In the next few weeks, we're going to be discussing how we can join H-H-S and Labor Department programs so that we can work more effectively to solve this problem.
Third, I'm going to look up - up Capital Hill, that is. My department's building is at the base of the Hill and I'm eager to journey up to the House and Senate to discuss the nursing shortage. I'm especially pleased to work with leaders like Senator Tim Hutchinson of the Senate Health Committee, who is committed to helping pass legislation next year that will improve our existing grant programs.
But Senator Hutchinson shares my conviction that we also have to recruit and retain nurses in the Public Health Service, a branch of H-H-S that's proven so important to the health and well being of people across our country. Their work is desperately needed.
I'm also going to look out across America to the states, to develop new programs and improve existing ones that provide training programs, including training in nursing. From a strictly economic standpoint, nursing is going to be one of the most job-rich fields of the next decade. We need nurses, and dedicated men and women need employment.
Nurses need the same leading-edge training as any other profession, and we need to make sure that when people seek a nursing education it is as accessible as it can be. So, I will ask universities and colleges how they can best respond to the realities of today's workforce. Today's employees often work long and unconventional hours. They need classes on weekends, in the evening and on-line.
We need re-entry programs for nurses who want to resume their nursing careers after an absence. And these programs should provide training in a time manner - on a fast track. The need is too great for programs that stay in a low gear when the need is pressing.
The private sector has to be part of this effort, as well. I will look to corporate leaders to help us develop public-private partnerships with providers across the country to address the concerns of nurses across the board.
Hospitals, clinics and health centers need to be brought into the discussion. They are the places where the overwhelming majority of nurses serve.
Finally, and most importantly, I'm going to listen to the concerns of nurses themselves. I want to hear from the men and women on the frontlines of American health care. I need their counsel. I will seek it, and look forward to getting it and applying it to this new initiative.
Let me leave you with a story from Mary Ferrell, a nurse who tended wounded soldiers during World War II. Nurse Ferrell recounts that as her colleagues and her treated wounded men in rugged field hospitals, the men would often say, "Are you real?" . or, "You are wonderful," or "You are in hell here with us."
Nurses are real . they are wonderful . and they are with us in our pain. They deserve our thanks and our support. The President and I are committed to giving them both.
Now, it is my pleasure to introduce two women who represent the best of both tomorrow's and today's nursing.
Lana Grigoriev is a senior nursing student here at Georgetown who is on the verge of beginning her career in the medical profession. Lana plans to go on and get her master's degree and become a certified midwife. And although Washington is her home, she knows about service firsthand, since she comes from a dedicated military family and has lived in many places.
Melissa Velazquez is a nurse at the Washington Hospital Center who has, for the past almost three weeks, been caring for the burn victims of the ruthless attack on the Pentagon on September 11.
On behalf of President Bush and all Americans, let me thank you, Melissa, for all you have done for the victims and their families. I can't tell you how much it means to know there are caring, capable people like you to help heal our nation's wounds.
So, let me turn to Lana and Melissa.