HR6607-119

What This Bill Does

The FAAN Act adds a new Public Health Service Act grant authority for nursing education enhancement and modernization in underserved areas. The Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through HRSA, may award grants to schools of nursing to increase faculty and student numbers, address nursing workforce shortages, improve public-health emergency and pandemic readiness, and modernize nursing education. Priority goes to schools in or preparing students for medically underserved areas, health professional shortage areas, rural areas, noncontiguous states and territories, and institutions listed under section 371(a) of the Higher Education Act. Funds can support enrollment and retention of disadvantaged, underrepresented, rural, underserved, low-income, and first-generation students; faculty retention and hiring; clinical education partnerships; simulation, augmented reality, telehealth, audiovisual, virtual lab, and physical lab infrastructure; curriculum modernization; nurse researcher programs; and nurse-led interprofessional partnerships. Grantees must report annually, and HHS must publish a five-year report on outcomes. The bill authorizes $1 billion to remain available until expended.

Who Benefits and How

Schools of nursing benefit from grant funding to expand faculty, students, infrastructure, clinical partnerships, and modern curricula. Nursing students from disadvantaged, rural, underserved, low-income, first-generation, and underrepresented backgrounds benefit from mentorship, tools, programming, and expanded seats. Hospitals, community health centers, nurse-managed clinics, medically underserved communities, and health professional shortage areas benefit if the grants increase the future nursing workforce and improve emergency readiness.

Who Bears the Burden and How

HHS and HRSA must administer the grant program, prioritize eligible schools, monitor annual grantee reports, and submit a public five-year report with student, faculty, clinical partnership, infrastructure, and workforce outcomes. Schools of nursing must apply, use funds for authorized purposes, track enrollment and graduation data by demographic factors when available, and report activities every year. Federal taxpayers bear the $1 billion authorization.

Key Provisions

• Authorizes HRSA grants to schools of nursing for faculty growth, student enrollment, emergency readiness, and nursing education modernization.
• Prioritizes schools serving medically underserved areas, health professional shortage areas, rural areas, noncontiguous states and territories, and covered minority-serving institutions.
• Funds mentorship, underrepresented-student support, faculty hiring, clinical partnerships, simulation, augmented reality, telehealth, laboratories, curriculum modernization, and nurse researcher programs.
• Requires annual grantee reports and a public HHS report within five years on grant outcomes and workforce effects.
• Authorizes $1 billion for the grant program, available until expended.