This bill aims to expand nursing faculty capacity and create career pathways to ease workforce shortages and improve access—especially in underserved areas—but its impact depends on whether federal agencies and Congress adopt the recommendations, and doing so could add administrative burdens and require more federal spending.
Nurses and prospective nursing students: increases the number of nurse faculty and education capacity, enabling more nursing graduates and helping to ease nationwide nursing workforce shortages.
Experienced nurses and LPNs: creates clearer, supported pathways for nurses with long clinical experience and for LPNs to advance into RN and faculty roles, improving career mobility and strengthening the long-term nursing pipeline.
People in underserved and rural communities: increases the likelihood of more nursing faculty and training opportunities located in underserved areas, which can improve local access to future care providers over time.
The bill's benefits are uncertain for most Americans: recommendations are advisory and require Congress and federal agencies to act, so the proposed improvements may not occur or may be delayed.
State governments, schools, and program administrators: implementing recommended changes could add administrative complexity, new grant conditions, or compliance burdens for HHS/DOL programs and grant recipients.
Taxpayers: carrying out recommended program changes may require additional federal funding, increasing government spending.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Directs HHS and Labor to review federal nursing workforce grants and report within one year with recommendations to increase faculty, enable experienced nurses to teach, and expand LPN-to-RN pathways.
Introduced February 12, 2025 by Jacklyn Sheryl Rosen · Last progress February 12, 2025
Requires the Departments of Health and Human Services and Labor to jointly review all federal grant programs that support the nursing workforce and, within one year of enactment, submit a report to Congress with recommendations to strengthen those programs. The report must include ways to increase the number of nurse faculty (especially in underserved areas), create pathways for experienced nurses (10+ years of clinical experience) to become faculty, and expand LPN-to-RN career pathways. The law does not itself authorize new spending or change program rules; it directs a coordinated review and recommendations that could lead to future policy or funding changes.