S. 1874: Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2025 (119th Congress) Bill Summary

The Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2025 aims to enhance and support various nursing workforce development programs under the Public Health Service Act. The key features of the bill include the following:

Advanced Nursing Education Grants

This section amends the existing provisions related to advanced nursing education grants. Notably:

It specifies that grants will be available for individuals enrolled in nurse practitioner, nurse-midwifery, nurse anesthesia, and clinical nurse specialist programs.
It updates the terminology regarding midwives to specifically refer to "nurse-midwives."
The definition of allowable expenses now includes fees related to clinical education and the costs for clinical preceptors.

Strengthening Capacity for Nurse Education and Practice

This part of the bill focuses on improving the education and practice capacity of nurses. The updates include:

Changing the heading of a section to reflect a broader scope beyond just basic nursing education.
Enhancing the utilization of modern teaching methodologies such as audiovisual equipment, simulation technologies, and telehealth in nursing education.
Emphasizing the importance of increasing both faculty numbers and student enrollment in nursing schools to tackle workforce shortages directly.
Encouraging collaboration with healthcare facilities and clinics to expand clinical education opportunities for nursing students.

Funding Appropriations

The bill proposes an increase in funding for nursing workforce development programs. The key financial amendments are:

Increasing appropriations from $137.8 million for 2021-2025 to $184.3 million for 2026-2030 for certain programs.
Revising appropriations from $117.1 million for 2021-2025 to $121.1 million for 2026-2030 for additional nursing programs.

Overall, this bill reauthorizes and aims to strengthen nursing workforce development efforts by expanding educational grants, enhancing training methods, and increasing available funding to ensure a robust nursing workforce capable of addressing current and future healthcare needs.