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1 staff nurses and frontline health care workers, work-
2 ing in collaboration with accredited schools of nurs-
3 ing and academic institutions.
4 (b) GRANTS.—Not later than 6 months after the date
5 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor (re-
6 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall establish
7 a partnership grant program to award grants to eligible
8 entities to carry out comprehensive programs to provide
9 education to nurses and create a pipeline to nursing for
10 incumbent ancillary health care workers who wish to ad-
11 vance their careers, and to otherwise carry out the pur-
12 poses of this section.
13 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for a grant under
14 this section, an entity shall be—
15 (1) a health care entity that is jointly adminis-
16 tered by a health care employer and a labor union
17 representing the health care employees of the em-
18 ployer and that carries out activities using labor
19 management training funds as provided for under
20 section 302(c)(6) of the Labor Management Rela-
21 tions Act, 1947 (29 U.S.C. 186(c)(6));
22 (2) an entity that operates a training program
23 that is jointly administered by—

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1 (A) one or more health care providers or
2 facilities, or a trade association of health care
3 providers; and
4 (B) one or more organizations which rep-
5 resent the interests of direct care health care
6 workers or staff nurses and in which the direct
7 care health care workers or staff nurses have
8 direct input as to the leadership of the organi-
9 zation;
10 (3) a State training partnership program that
11 consists of nonprofit organizations that include equal
12 participation from industry, including public or pri-
13 vate employers, and labor organizations including
14 joint labor-management training programs, and
15 which may include representatives from local govern-
16 ments, worker investment agency one-stop career
17 centers, community-based organizations, community
18 colleges, and accredited schools of nursing; or
19 (4) a school of nursing (as defined in section
20 801 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
21 296)).
22 (d) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR HEALTH CARE
23 EMPLOYER DESCRIBED IN SUBSECTION (c).—To be eligi-
24 ble for a grant under this section, a health care employer
25 described in subsection (c) shall demonstrate that it—

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1 (1) has an established program within their fa-
2 cility to encourage the retention of existing nurses;
3 (2) provides wages and benefits to its nurses
4 that are competitive for its market or that have been
5 collectively bargained with a labor organization; and
6 (3) supports programs funded under this sec-
7 tion through 1 or more of the following:
8 (A) The provision of paid leave time and
9 continued health coverage to incumbent health
10 care workers to allow their participation in
11 nursing career ladder programs, including cer-
12 tified nurse assistants, licensed practical nurses,
13 licensed vocational nurses, and registered
14 nurses.
15 (B) Contributions to a joint labor-manage-
16 ment training fund which administers the pro-
17 gram involved.
18 (C) The provision of paid release time, in-
19 centive compensation, or continued health cov-
20 erage to staff nurses who desire to work full- or
21 part-time in a faculty position.
22 (D) The provision of paid release time for
23 staff nurses to enable them to obtain a bachelor
24 of science in nursing degree, other advanced

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1 nursing degrees, specialty training, or certifi-
2 cation program.
3 (E) The payment of tuition assistance
4 which is managed by a joint labor-management
5 training fund or other jointly administered pro-
6 gram.
7 (e) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—
8 (1) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may not

10 make a grant under this section unless the ap-
11 plicant involved agrees, with respect to the costs
12 to be incurred by the applicant in carrying out
13 the program under the grant, to make available
14 non-Federal contributions (in cash or in kind
15 under subparagraph (B)) toward such costs in
16 an amount equal to not less than $1 for each
17 $1 of Federal funds provided in the grant. Such
18 contributions may be made directly or through
19 donations from public or private entities, or
20 may be provided through the cash equivalent of
21 paid release time provided to incumbent worker
22 students.
23 (B) DETERMINATION OF AMOUNT OF NON-

24 FEDERAL CONTRIBUTION.—Non-Federal con-

25 tributions required in subparagraph (A) may be

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1 in cash or in kind (including paid release time),
2 fairly evaluated, including equipment or services
3 (and excluding indirect or overhead costs).
4 Amounts provided by the Federal Government,
5 or services assisted or subsidized to any signifi-
6 cant extent by the Federal Government, may
7 not be included in determining the amount of
8 such non-Federal contributions.
9 (2) REQUIRED COLLABORATION.—Entities car-
10 rying out or overseeing programs carried out with
11 assistance provided under this section shall dem-
12 onstrate collaboration with accredited schools of
13 nursing which may include community colleges and
14 other academic institutions providing associate,
15 bachelor’s, or advanced nursing degree programs or
16 specialty training or certification programs.
17 (f) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts awarded to an entity
18 under a grant under this section shall be used for the fol-
19 lowing:
20 (1) To carry out programs that provide edu-
21 cation and training to establish nursing career lad-
22 ders to educate incumbent health care workers to be-
23 come nurses (including certified nurse assistants, li-
24 censed practical nurses, licensed vocational nurses,

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1 and registered nurses). Such programs shall include
2 one or more of the following:
3 (A) Preparing incumbent workers to return
4 to the classroom through English -as-a-second
5 language education, GED education, pre-college
6 counseling, college preparation classes, and sup-
7 port with entry level college classes that are a
8 prerequisite to nursing.
9 (B) Providing tuition assistance with pref-
10 erence for dedicated cohort classes in commu-
11 nity colleges, universities, accredited schools of
12 nursing with supportive services including tu-
13 toring and counseling.
14 (C) Providing assistance in preparing for
15 and meeting all nursing licensure tests and re-
16 quirements.
17 (D) Carrying out orientation and
18 mentorship programs that assist newly grad-
19 uated nurses in adjusting to working at the
20 bedside to ensure their retention
21 postgraduation, and ongoing programs to sup-
22 port nurse retention.
23 (E) Providing stipends for release time and
24 continued health care coverage to enable incum-

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1 bent health care workers to participate in these
2 programs.
3 (2) To carry out programs that assist nurses in
4 obtaining advanced degrees and completing specialty
5 training or certification programs and to establish
6 incentives for nurses to assume nurse faculty posi-
7 tions on a part-time or full-time basis. Such pro-
8 grams shall include one or more of the following:
9 (A) Increasing the pool of nurses with ad-
10 vanced degrees who are interested in teaching
11 by funding programs that enable incumbent
12 nurses to return to school.
13 (B) Establishing incentives for advanced
14 degree bedside nurses who wish to teach in
15 nursing programs so they can obtain a leave
16 from their bedside position to assume a full- or
17 part-time position as adjunct or full-time fac-
18 ulty without the loss of salary or benefits.
19 (C) Collaboration with accredited schools
20 of nursing which may include community col-
21 leges and other academic institutions providing
22 associate, bachelor’s, or advanced nursing de-
23 gree programs, or specialty training or certifi-
24 cation programs, for nurses to carry out innova-

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1 tive nursing programs which meet the needs of
2 bedside nursing and health care providers.
3 (g) PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants under this
4 section the Secretary shall give preference to programs
5 that—
6 (1) provide for improving nurse retention;
7 (2) provide for improving the diversity of the
8 new nurse graduates to reflect changes in the demo-
9 graphics of the patient population;
10 (3) provide for improving the quality of nursing
11 education to improve patient care and safety;
12 (4) have demonstrated success in upgrading in-
13 cumbent health care workers to become nurses or
14 which have established effective programs or pilots
15 to increase nurse faculty; or
16 (5) are modeled after or affiliated with such
17 programs described in paragraph (4).
18 (h) EVALUATION.—
19 (1) PROGRAM EVALUATIONS.—An entity that
20 receives a grant under this section shall annually
21 evaluate, and submit to the Secretary a report on,
22 the activities carried out under the grant and the
23 outcomes of such activities. Such outcomes may in-
24 clude—

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