42 U.S.C. § 296j–1 — Demonstration grants for family nurse practitioner training programs

(a) Establishment of program. The Secretary of Health and Human Services must establish a training demonstration program for family nurse practitioners. The program employs and gives one year of training to nurse practitioners who have already graduated from a nurse practitioner program, preparing them for careers as primary care providers at Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and nurse-managed health clinics (NMHCs). (b) Purpose. The program's purpose is to help each grant recipient (1) give new nurse practitioners clinical training so they can serve as primary care providers at FQHCs and NMHCs; (2) train them under a primary care model consistent with the Institute of Medicine's principles and the needs of vulnerable populations; and (3) create a model of FQHC and NMHC training for nurse practitioners that can be copied nationwide. (c) Grants. The Secretary must award 3-year grants to eligible entities that meet the Secretary's requirements, to run the nurse practitioner primary care programs described in (a). (d) Eligible entities. To be eligible for a grant, an entity must (1)(A) be an FQHC as defined in a named section, or (B) be a nurse-managed health clinic as defined in a named Public Health Service Act section; and (2) submit an application to the Secretary as required. (e) Priority in awarding grants. The Secretary must give priority to entities that (1) show they have enough size, scope, and capacity to train at least 3 nurse practitioners a year, and to give each trainee 12 full months of full-time, paid employment and benefits consistent with the entity's other full-time employees; (2) will assign at least 1 staff nurse practitioner or physician to each of 4 clinics used for the precepted training; (3) will give each trainee specialty rotations, including specialty training in prenatal care and women's health, adult and child psychiatry, orthopedics, geriatrics, and at least 3 other high-volume, high-burden specialty areas; (4) provide sessions on high-volume, high-risk health problems and have a record of training health professionals to care for children, older adults, and underserved populations; and (5) collaborate with other safety-net providers, schools, colleges, and universities that provide health professions training. (f) Eligibility of nurse practitioners. (1) In general. To be accepted into a program funded under this section, a nurse practitioner must (A) be licensed, or eligible for licensure, in the program's state as an advanced practice registered nurse or advanced practice nurse, and be eligible for or board-certified as a family nurse practitioner; and (B) show commitment to a career as a primary care provider at an FQHC or NMHC. (2) Preference. In selecting trainees, each grant recipient must give preference to bilingual candidates who meet the requirements in (1). (3) Deferral of certain service. If a trainee also owes service under the National Health Service Corps program, the start date of that required service is pushed back until 22 days after the trainee completes this program. (g) Grant amount. Each grant awarded under this section cannot exceed $600,000 per year. A grant recipient may carry funds over from one fiscal year to another without needing the Secretary's approval. (h) Technical assistance grants. The Secretary may award technical assistance grants to one or more FQHCs or NMHCs that have shown expertise running a nurse practitioner residency training program, so they can help other recipients of grants under (c). (i) Authorization of appropriations. Congress may appropriate whatever sums are necessary to carry out this section for each of fiscal years 2011 through 2014.