Charles Skelton: “I thank the gentlelady for raising this very important issue, and assure the gentlelady that I certainly share her…”

“I thank the gentlelady for raising this very important issue, and assure the gentlelady that I certainly share her concerns. The Department of Defense is facing the same shortage of nurses as we are across the Nation. However, the need for the Department is more directly felt as we are at war, and our military nurses are caring for our wounded and injured in addition to all their other duties. Let me say to the gentlelady that we have taken serious, substantive steps to increase the number of nurses, both in the military and in the civilian community. In this bill we have mandated the establishment of a Department of Defense School of Nursing, following the successful models of the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences to produce medical doctors, the Interservice Physician Assistant Program to produce physician assistants for the military, and the Army's new School of Social Work, which will enroll its first class this summer. Although the graduates of the Department of Defense School of Nursing will initially provide much needed care for our troops, I'm confident that following their military service they will continue to serve our Nation as nurses in civilian communities. Finally, we've included a demonstration project to encourage retired military nurses to become faculty members at civilian schools of nursing to help alleviate the nurse instructor shortage of which you speak.”