Massachusetts Nursing Council on Workforce Sustainability

Hello All,

I hope your summer is off to an excellent start! As you know the Massachusetts Nursing Council on Workforce Sustainability has been hard at work for nearly two years, many MARILN members serve on various committees throughout. There were several recommendations that came out of this work that need to be funded. Below are bulleted items that are in jeopardy. I urge you to write to your representatives and request their support for the following funding:

 

Clinical Nurse Educator Certificates – Intended to support 500 clinical nurse educators to receive a nurse educator certificate, allowing them to continue to teach without a Master’s Degree. The Governor’s budget funded this at $675,000. The House funded this at $675,000 and the Senate funded this at $660,000.

 

Recruitment Bonuses for Nursing Faculty- Intended to address the faculty shortage in nursing schools by providing full-time and part-time nursing educators with a one-time bonus in exchange for professional development or additional mentoring of students. The Governor’s budget funded this at $2.5 million. The House funded this at $2.5 million; the Senate did not include this in its budget.

 

Supports for Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) exam upgrades- Intended to support launch of CNA exam in 3 additional languages, plus fee waivers for all first-time test takers, and additional operational enhancements to the exam. The Governor’s budget funded this at $1.7 million. The House funded this at $1.7 million; the Senate did not include this in its budget.

 

These are critical issues that impact nurses throughout. Please take some time to offer support to these initiatives.

 

Sincerely,

Lisa Thomas

MARILN President