National Nurse Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1597 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 7, 2019 Ms. JOHNSON of Texas (for herself, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. BLU- MENAUER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. CARTER of Georgia, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. CON- NOLLY, Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. DELBENE, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. GRIFFITH, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER, Mr. HURD of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KINZINGER, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. PETERS, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. RUSH, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHRADER, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. TONKO, Mr. WELCH, Ms. WILD, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. KILMER, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. COSTA, Ms. NORTON, Ms. MENG, and Mr. COHEN) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on En- ergy and Commerce 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1597.IH H1597 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1597 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Nurse Act 2 of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. NATIONAL NURSE FOR PUBLIC HEALTH. 4 Title XVII of the Public Health Service Act (42 5 U.S.C. 300u et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 6 the following: 7 ‘‘SEC. 1712. NATIONAL NURSE FOR PUBLIC HEALTH. 8 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The same individual des- 9 ignated as the Chief Nurse Officer of the Public Health 10 Service under section 205 shall also be designated by the 11 Secretary as the National Nurse for Public Health. 12 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY.—The National Nurse for Public 13 Health shall have the authority and flexibility to carry out 14 the following: 15 ‘‘(1) Provide leadership and coordination of 16 Public Health Service nursing professional affairs 17 for the Office of the Surgeon General and other 18 agencies of the Public Health Service, including pro- 19 viding representation for the Government of the 20 United States at the Global Forum for Government 21 Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officers and serving as 22 a member of the Federal Nursing Service Council. 23 ‘‘(2) Represent the Surgeon General and the 24 agencies of Public Health Service in communications 25 with groups and societies concerned with nursing 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1597.IH H1597 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1597 IH issues at the local, State, national, and international 1 levels. 2 ‘‘(3) Provide guidance and advice to the Sur- 3 geon General and the Nurse Professional Advisory 4 Committee on matters such as standards, recruit- 5 ment, retention, readiness, and career development 6 of nurses employed by and contracted with agencies 7 of the Public Health Service. 8 ‘‘(4) Conduct outreach and education for pur- 9 poses of paragraphs (5) through (7). 10 ‘‘(5) Provide guidance and leadership for activi- 11 ties to promote the public health, including encour- 12 aging nurses and other health professionals to be 13 volunteers and developing projects that educate the 14 public about and engage the public in prevention 15 practices to achieve better health. 16 ‘‘(6) Provide guidance and leadership to encour- 17 age nurses to engage in furthering their education in 18 order to conduct nursing research, increase the 19 awareness of evidence-based practice, and educate 20 future nurses. 21 ‘‘(7) Provide guidance and leadership for activi- 22 ties that will increase public safety and emergency 23 preparedness. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1597.IH H1597 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1597 IH ‘‘(8) Prepare and publish a biennial report on 1 the state of the Commissioned Corps of the Public 2 Health Service Nurse Category. 3 ‘‘(c) NATIONAL HEALTH PRIORITIES—NATIONAL 4 PREVENTION STRATEGY.— 5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The National Nurse for 6 Public Health, in cooperation with the Surgeon Gen- 7 eral of the Public Health Service, heads of the agen- 8 cies of the Public Health Service, States, and orga- 9 nizations that represent health professionals, shall 10 continue to participate in the identification of na- 11 tional health priorities. 12 ‘‘(2) ADDRESSING NATIONAL HEALTH PRIOR- 13 ITIES.—The National Nurse for Public Health, in 14 addressing national health priorities, shall encourage 15 volunteerism of nurses and other individuals, and 16 strengthen the relationship between Government 17 agencies and health-related national organizations. 18 ‘‘(3) COMMUNITY-BASED PROJECTS.— 19 ‘‘(A) IMPLEMENTATION.—In addressing 20 national health priorities, the National Nurse 21 for Public Health shall— 22 ‘‘(i) provide guidance and coordination 23 on recommended activities to organiza- 24 tions; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1597.IH H1597 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1597 IH ‘‘(ii) acknowledge successful programs 1 and encourage their replication; 2 ‘‘(iii) promote the dissemination of 3 evidence-based practice in educating the 4 public on health promotion and disease 5 prevention activities; 6 ‘‘(iv) encourage practicing nurses and 7 other health professionals, including retired 8 health professionals and students enrolled 9 in health professional programs, to partici- 10 pate in health promotion activities and rep- 11 licate successful health promotion activities 12 in their local communities; and 13 ‘‘(v) collaborate with Federal agencies 14 to monitor activities being conducted 15 through the collection and evaluation of 16 data to determine if national health prior- 17 ities are being addressed. 18 ‘‘(B) OUTREACH AND EDUCATION.—In 19 conducting outreach and education under sub- 20 section (b)(4), the National Nurse for Public 21 Health shall give priority to the inclusion of di- 22 verse approaches, including social media cam- 23 paigns, to address national health priorities. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1597.IH H1597 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1597 IH ‘‘(C) DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.— 1 The National Nurse for Public Health shall dis- 2 seminate information to governmental agencies, 3 schools, and community-based, nonprofit orga- 4 nizations interested in health promotion and 5 improving public health through community ac- 6 tion.’’. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:32 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1597.IH H1597 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS