• Advanced Practice Nurses augment primary and emergency care in myriad settings across the country.
• APRNs in the emergency setting improve patient throughput, reduce wait times and deliver high-quality care for both acute and non-urgent patients.

Recently, the Department of Education released a Proposed Rule that caps the amount of federal student loans for advanced practice nursing students at $20,500 per year with a lifetime limit of $100,000. With the average cost of a nurse practitioner degree reaching $60,000 or more, thousands of dollars in additional costs will fall on the students to pay out-of-pocket or through additional loans with higher interest rates.

You have the opportunity to provide comments directly to the Department of Education to let them know where you stand on classifying nurses, but you must act fast! The deadline for comments is March 2.

ENA has prepared some comments which you may send as-is. However, ENA recommends you take a moment to consider what the student loan caps for nurses seeking an advanced degree might mean for their health care careers.

Tips for Federal regulatory comment letters:

1. Responses to regulatory actions become part of the public record. Provide a professional, but direct, message suitable for the world to see.
2. Data-driven arguments work best, please try to provide data whenever possible.
3. If you are an APRN who received federal graduate student loans, make sure to explain the value your advanced degree has had as a health care provider.