National Nurse Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 696 To designate the same individual serving as the Chief Nurse Officer of the Public Health Service as the National Nurse for Public Health. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 7, 2019 Mr. MERKLEY (for himself and Mrs. CAPITO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Edu- cation, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To designate the same individual serving as the Chief Nurse Officer of the Public Health Service as the National Nurse for Public Health. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Nurse Act 4 of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. NATIONAL NURSE FOR PUBLIC HEALTH. 6 Title XVII of the Public Health Service Act (42 7 U.S.C. 300u et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 8 the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Mar 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S696.IS S696 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 696 IS ‘‘SEC. 1712. NATIONAL NURSE FOR PUBLIC HEALTH. 1 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The same individual des- 2 ignated as the Chief Nurse Officer of the Public Health 3 Service under section 205 shall also be designated by the 4 Secretary as the National Nurse for Public Health. 5 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY.—The National Nurse for Public 6 Health shall have the authority and flexibility to carry out 7 the following: 8 ‘‘(1) Provide leadership and coordination of 9 Public Health Service nursing professional affairs 10 for the Office of the Surgeon General and other 11 agencies of the Public Health Service, including pro- 12 viding representation for the Government of the 13 United States at the Global Forum for Government 14 Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officers and serving as 15 a member of the Federal Nursing Service Council. 16 ‘‘(2) Represent the Surgeon General and the 17 agencies of Public Health Service in communications 18 with groups and societies concerned with nursing 19 issues at the local, State, national, and international 20 levels. 21 ‘‘(3) Provide guidance and advice to the Sur- 22 geon General and the Nurse Professional Advisory 23 Committee on matters such as standards, recruit- 24 ment, retention, readiness, and career development 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Mar 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S696.IS S696 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 696 IS of nurses employed by and contracted with agencies 1 of the Public Health Service. 2 ‘‘(4) Conduct outreach and education for pur- 3 poses of paragraphs (5) through (7). 4 ‘‘(5) Provide guidance and leadership for activi- 5 ties to promote the public health, including encour- 6 aging nurses and other health professionals to be 7 volunteers and developing projects that educate the 8 public about and engage the public in prevention 9 practices to achieve better health. 10 ‘‘(6) Provide guidance and leadership to encour- 11 age nurses to engage in furthering their education in 12 order to conduct nursing research, increase the 13 awareness of evidence-based practice, and educate 14 future nurses. 15 ‘‘(7) Provide guidance and leadership for activi- 16 ties that will increase public safety and emergency 17 preparedness. 18 ‘‘(8) Prepare and publish a biennial report on 19 the state of the Commissioned Corps of the Public 20 Health Service Nurse Category. 21 ‘‘(c) NATIONAL HEALTH PRIORITIES—NATIONAL 22 PREVENTION STRATEGY.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The National Nurse for 24 Public Health, in cooperation with the Surgeon Gen- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Mar 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S696.IS S696 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 696 IS eral of the Public Health Service, heads of the agen- 1 cies of the Public Health Service, States, and orga- 2 nizations that represent health professionals, shall 3 continue to participate in the identification of na- 4 tional health priorities. 5 ‘‘(2) ADDRESSING NATIONAL HEALTH PRIOR- 6 ITIES.—The National Nurse for Public Health, in 7 addressing national health priorities, shall encourage 8 volunteerism of nurses and other individuals, and 9 strengthen the relationship between Government 10 agencies and health-related national organizations. 11 ‘‘(3) COMMUNITY-BASED PROJECTS.— 12 ‘‘(A) IMPLEMENTATION.—In addressing 13 national health priorities, the National Nurse 14 for Public Health shall— 15 ‘‘(i) provide guidance and coordination 16 on recommended activities to organiza- 17 tions; 18 ‘‘(ii) acknowledge successful programs 19 and encourage their replication; 20 ‘‘(iii) promote the dissemination of 21 evidence-based practice in educating the 22 public on health promotion and disease 23 prevention activities; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Mar 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S696.IS S696 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 696 IS ‘‘(iv) encourage practicing nurses and 1 other health professionals, including retired 2 health professionals and students enrolled 3 in health professional programs, to partici- 4 pate in health promotion activities and rep- 5 licate successful health promotion activities 6 in their local communities; and 7 ‘‘(v) collaborate with Federal agencies 8 to monitor activities being conducted 9 through the collection and evaluation of 10 data to determine if national health prior- 11 ities are being addressed. 12 ‘‘(B) OUTREACH AND EDUCATION.—In 13 conducting outreach and education under sub- 14 section (b)(4), the National Nurse for Public 15 Health shall give priority to the inclusion of di- 16 verse approaches, including social media cam- 17 paigns, to address national health priorities. 18 ‘‘(C) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.— 19 The National Nurse for Public Health shall dis- 20 seminate information to governmental agencies, 21 schools, and community-based, nonprofit orga- 22 nizations interested in health promotion and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Mar 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S696.IS S696 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 696 IS improving public health through community ac- 1 tion.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:04 Mar 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S696.IS S696 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS