As Congress works toward a Jan. 30 budget deadline, federal cuts have been proposed that would put nearly $7 million in nursing education and research funding at risk.
It's a concern in Missouri, where there's already a nursing shortage, especially in rural areas. The U.S. House Appropriations Committee has moved to eliminate the National Institute of Nursing Research, as well as most Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development programs.
Lori Popejoy, dean of the University of Missouri's Sinclair School of Nursing, warned that eliminating the national institute would undercut the science that guides patient care.
"That is the only institute dedicated to nursing research, or understanding effective ways to deliver good, quality care to patients," she said. "So, cutting the National Institute of Nursing Research is devastating."
Supporters of the cuts have argued the changes are needed to rein in federal costs and shift responsibility for workforce training and education funding away from Washington, D.C., and toward states, individual universities, and health systems.
Popejoy is sounding the alarm about the loss of federal programs that help train future nursing faculty. That includes the Nurse Faculty Loan Program, which has supported graduate students preparing to teach.
"We already have a shortage," she said. "If you lose nurse educators, you will not produce as many nurses."
Nursing groups around the country have warned that shrinking the pipeline now could limit people's access to care, especially in underserved communities. Popejoy emphasized that nurses are vital to the health-care system.
"We are there 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We are the constant in the equation," she said. "And other than family, we are probably the closest to that individual patient at any given time."
In an American Hospital Association poll, close to two-thirds of nurses said they’re already assigned too many patients, and about nine in ten said nursing shortages harm patient care.
The Missouri News Service originally published this story, and is a news partner with KRCU Public Radio.
