The Administration's FY 2026 budget Department of Health and Human Services proposal includes significant cuts that directly impact the nursing profession and the ability for patients to access care in the United States. The budget proposal would dissolve the National Institute of Nursing Research and cut nearly all Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs except the Nurse Corps scholarship program. Title VIII programs are the cornerstone of federal support for nursing education in the United States.

Cutting these programs would exacerbate workforce shortages, widen health disparities, compromise patient safety, devastate innovation and restrict the development of future nurses. Communities nationwide, especially vulnerable populations, would feel the effects in the form of diminished access to quality care.