By Amy Curtis | February 2025
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In this issue: Tracking the PRECEPT Nurse Act, Key Finding: Long Work Hours, and Research Committee resumes regular programming in March
This newsletter is 1,285 words long, about a 4.5-minute read.
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Tracking New Nurse Preceptors Act
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In late January, Jen Kiggans (R-VA) introduced the PRECEPT Nurses Act, a bipartisan bill that aims to incentivize nurses to become preceptors.
The bill would establish a $2,000 tax credit for nurses who work at least 200 hours as a clinical preceptor to nursing students, with specific emphasis on those in a health professional shortage area (HSPA).
(Pro tip... HSPA is a specific designation for a geographic area, population, or facility is experiencing a shortage of health care services. The shortage is based on three health areas: primary medical, dental, or mental health. The main factor in determining a HPSA is the number of health professionals relative to the population’s size and need for those services.)
This legislation is being introduced alongside Reps. Dave Joyce (R-OH), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), and Jim Costa (D-CA) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and by Sens. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) in the U.S. Senate.
Why it’s important: Increasing the number of preceptors can help:
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- Grow the number of qualified nurse educators
- Expand clinical placements to accommodate more nursing students
- Improve patient care through better-prepared nursing graduates
- Prevent healthcare worker burnout or increase well-being by creating a supportive mentorship environment
- Offer professional development opportunities for experienced nurses
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What they’re saying: According to a press release from the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA), “To become a preceptor, nurses undergo extensive training, often at their own expense. Many cite increasing workload, burnout, and lack of institutional support as reasons for not becoming a preceptor. The PRECEPT Nurses Act would incentivize nurses to become nurse preceptors. Increasing the number of nurse preceptors means more nursing students can receive their clinical training and enter the workforce.”
"Mentors are the backbone of nurturing talent and shaping the workforce of tomorrow, and in nursing, preceptors fulfill this essential role," Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, PhD, RN, president of the American Nurses' Association, said in a news release. "The Precept Nurses Act is an important step in recognizing the invaluable contributions of nurse preceptors and ensuring they have the support needed to address critical workforce shortages, particularly in underserved areas."
The National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers signed on to a letter in support of the PRECEPT Act.
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State of Nursing in Kansas 2024 Report Key Finding: Long Hours
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In the 2022 National Council of State Boards of Nursing survey, Kansas Registered Nurses (RNs) and Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) self-reported working more hours than the national sample.
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- 36% of Kansas RNs reported typically working more than 40 hours per week.
- 37% of Kansas LPNs reported typically working more than 40 hours per week.
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Research Committee Resumes Regular Programming in March
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After two months of webinars, the Research Committee is back with regular programming on March 27, 2025 at 10a.m.
Teri Kennedy, PhD, MSW, ACSW, FGSA, FNAP, Project Director and Principal Investigator, KU School of Nursing, will present "Kansas 4M: Advancing Evidence-Based Care and Building an Age-Friendly Kansas Workforce".
This presentation will introduce the Kansas 4M Geriatrics Workforce Education Program* and the evidence-based Age-Friendly Health Systems Framework or 4Ms: what matters, medication, mentation, and mobility. Funded through the Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Kansas 4M is taking a One-Kansas approach to advancing 4Ms care for older adults by educating and training the current health, social, and direct care workforce as well as students, faculty, and preceptors. Initiatives specific to the nursing workforce will be highlighted.
“The Kansas GWEP Program, Kansas 4M, has partnered with the Kansas Nursing Workforce Center to lead a statewide effort to increase the number of nurses who elect to practice in nursing homes after graduation,” said Barbara MacArthur, Director of the Kansas Nursing Workforce Center.
Led by Shin Hye Park, PhD, RN, the Research Committee, facilitates and promotes collaborative nurse research activities across the state. The committee's goal is to leverage research talent to better serve the healthcare community of Kansas, advance the field of nursing and healthcare and strengthen the nursing workforce in Kansas.
You can sign up here to receive the Research Committee meeting link. Please forward to colleagues who may also wish to attend.
*Kansas 4M Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The award provided 100% of total costs and totaled $5 million with funding from 07/01/2024 through 06/30/2029. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official views of, nor an endorsement by, HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information visit HRSA.gov.
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Recently the National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers released a new data visualization tool. The tool includes the number of nurses and graduates from each state.
The development team included Alex Alsup, Data Scientist for the Kansas Nursing Workforce Center.
“The National Forum's new visualization tool allows us to collect data from every nursing workforce center in the country and make it all available and free to explore in one place,” said Alsup. “For example, people can explore the foundational data like nurse licenses, but there is also more complex data like full-time employees to explore. This is especially helpful to people who want to do state-to-state comparisons of information.”
Amy Garcia, Principal Advisor for the Kansas Nursing Workforce Center, was part of the team that developed an updated supply minimum data set (MDS).
The revision gives new guidance on survey development, sample and frequency of data collection, participant privacy, data security, essential elements and newly refreshed variable names, minimum response categories and additional guidance for the MDS.
“Many organizations gather data about nurses and nursing,” said Amy Garcia, Principal Advisor, Kansas Nursing Workforce Center. “Using standardized definitions from the new Minimum Data Set ensure that the data is sharable and comparable across states and organizations.”
We encourage everyone to join the Kansas team at the National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers at the 2025 Annual Conference, “Showcasing, Innovating and Strengthening the Nursing Workforce” on June 2-4, 2025 at the Marriott Philadelphia Downtown, 1201 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA.
We promise, it’s worth the trip!
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The Center just finished the second of two webinars about the State of Nursing in Kansas report. This one was geared toward educators and dovetails nicely with our research plans for 2025.
We are digging deeply into nurse education this year with projects that tackle pathways into nursing, finding common ground among Kansas nursing schools, and an education report.
We’ll also be updating the State of Nursing in Kansas report with comparative data across time.
It’s going to be a busy, fun year. Cheers!
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—Barbara MacArthur and Amy Garcia
Kansas Nursing Workforce Center
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Helpful Resources and Links
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Have Kansas Nursing Workforce news, solutions, or kudos you’d like us to share?
Email nursingwill@kumc.edu
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