Press Release
Nurses Welcome White House Community College Initiative
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-->Planting Seeds for the Next Generation of RNs, and a Healthier Nation
National Nurses United today announced strong support for President Obama's community college initiative that NNU said should have a huge impact on expanding and improving nursing education opportunities for an entire new generation of registered nurses.
Under the Administration's plan announced last week, the federal government would pick up 75% of the costs of community college, with states expected to pay the rest.
"Community college education is especially critical for the nursing profession," said NNU Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro.
"Millions of young women have long counted on our community colleges as their means to obtain an Associate Degree in Nursing. ADN programs are essential for nurses, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds or underrepresented communities to achieve their dreams of providing quality care for patients, and their communities as well as securing economic opportunity for themselves and their families," said DeMoro.
"ADN nurses today continue to provide exceptional, professional, expert nursing care for millions of American patients. Yet the ADN degree has come under increasing attack by the corporatized healthcare industry," DeMoro noted with growing numbers of hospitals and nurse executives seeking to devalue ADN degrees or restrict hiring and advancement to nurses with four-year Bachelor of Science degrees.
"Reducing the cost of education, and lessening students' growing dependence on debts will expand opportunities and ultimately incomes, especially for women and communities of color that have been historically been herded into low-paying jobs and careers, and saddled with burdensome school loans, DeMoro said.
"With access to higher education increasingly stratified by income and out of reach for many, and at a time we should be increasing, not restricting access to a nursing career for all Americans, such a shortsighted approach harms our nation and our patients and communities that depend on quality nursing care," DeMoro added.
The nation's overall public health benefits from a nursing workforce that more closely resembles the population in racial as well as socio-economic diversity, said DeMoro.
Ultimately, NNU said the U.S. should move toward improving access to education at all levels, such as making all higher education tuition free. One way to achieve that would be enactment of a small fee on Wall Street transactions of stocks, bonds, derivatives and other financial instruments, the Robin Hood Tax, which could be used in part to pay for equal access to education for all.
"With this initiative, the White House is planting the seeds for a better educated workforce, a better economy, and a better America," DeMoro said. "Congress should welcome this proposal and work with the President to bring it to fruition."