261.129 - NURSING WORKFORCE SHORTAGE INITIATIVE -- REPEAL.
261.129 NURSING WORKFORCE SHORTAGE INITIATIVE --
REPEAL.
1. Nurse educator incentive payment program.
a. The commission shall establish a nurse educator incentive
payment program. Funding for the program may be provided through the
health care workforce shortage fund or the health care professional
and nurse workforce shortage initiative account created in section
135.175. For the purposes of this subsection, "nurse educator"
means a registered nurse who holds a master's degree or doctorate
degree and is employed as a faculty member who teaches nursing in a
nursing education program as provided in 655 IAC 2.6 at a community
college, an accredited private institution, or an institution of
higher education governed by the state board of regents.
b. The program shall consist of incentive payments to recruit
and retain nurse educators. The program shall provide for incentive
payments of up to twenty thousand dollars for a nurse educator who
remains teaching in a qualifying teaching position for a period of
not less than four consecutive academic years.
c. The nurse educator and the commission shall enter into an
agreement specifying the obligations of the nurse educator and the
commission. If the nurse educator leaves the qualifying teaching
position prior to teaching for four consecutive academic years, the
nurse educator shall be liable to repay the incentive payment amount
to the state, plus interest as specified by rule. However, if the
nurse educator leaves the qualifying teaching position involuntarily,
the nurse educator shall be liable to repay only a pro rata amount of
the incentive payment based on incompleted years of service.
d. The commission, in consultation with the department of
public health, shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A relating to
the establishment and administration of the nurse educator incentive
payment program. The rules shall include provisions specifying what
constitutes a qualifying teaching position.
2. Nursing faculty fellowship program.
a. The commission shall establish a nursing faculty
fellowship program to provide funds to nursing schools in the state,
including but not limited to nursing schools located at community
colleges, for fellowships for individuals employed in qualifying
positions on the nursing faculty. Funding for the program may be
provided through the health care workforce shortage fund or the
health care professional and nurse workforce shortage initiative
account created in section 135.175. The program shall be designed to
assist nursing schools in filling vacancies in qualifying positions
throughout the state.
b. The commission, in consultation with the department of
public health and in cooperation with nursing schools throughout the
state, shall develop a distribution formula which shall provide that
no more than thirty percent of the available moneys are awarded to a
single nursing school. Additionally, the program shall limit funding
for a qualifying position in a nursing school to no more than ten
thousand dollars per year for up to three years.
c. The commission, in consultation with the department of
public health, shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to
administer the program. The rules shall include provisions
specifying what constitutes a qualifying position at a nursing
school.
d. In determining eligibility for a fellowship, the
commission shall consider all of the following:
(1) The length of time a qualifying position has gone unfilled at
a nursing school.
(2) Documented recruiting efforts by a nursing school.
(3) The geographic location of a nursing school.
(4) The type of nursing program offered at the nursing school,
including associate, bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degrees in
nursing, and the need for the specific nursing program in the state.
3. Repeal. This section is repealed June 30, 2014. >Section History: Recent Form
2009 Acts, ch 118, §52, 54
Referred to in § 135.175, 261.2 Footnotes
Implementation of section conditioned upon availability of
funding; 2009 Acts, ch 118, §54